


Eternal Bonds

by nilielh



Series: Angel AU [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: A Touch of Crimson AU, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angels and Demons, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Romance, vampires and lycans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 48,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25841299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilielh/pseuds/nilielh
Summary: He waited more than a hundred years for her. He wouldn't mind waiting a hundred more if it means he'd have her forever.(Volume 1 - Ohmiya)
Relationships: Matsumoto Jun/Sakurai Sho, Ninomiya Kazunari/Ohno Satoshi
Series: Angel AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875097
Comments: 21
Kudos: 36





	1. Locked on

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting. This is the first part of the currently ongoing Sakumoto fic.

It’s a little over half an hour after they landed that he’s able to make it through the crowd of annoyed passengers (like him), already eyeing the vacant bench he saw a little while ago, already imagining lying upon it when his gaze found _him._  
  
It’s surprising that he still has it in him to appreciate the beauty of his fellow men when he’s too exhausted he might probably end up snoozing at that bench if he hadn’t seen him, but.  
  
But the thing is, he saw him, and right now, sleep is the last thing on his mind as he watches the man from where he is, hitching his bag up his shoulder and vainly trying to keep the roiling and unfamiliar heat from creeping up his spine the moment the guy turns, now almost facing him. Even despite the distance, he is well aware at the fact that the man is certainly a head-turner, people’s gazes – women and men alike – follows him (and his companions) wherever he go.  
  
Though the man looks like he cares so little about the things around him, his attention is wholly focused on his mobile phone as he walks, he never, not even once, managed to bump into anyone despite the fact that he hasn’t taken his gaze off his mobile phone ever since he saw him.  
  
Beside the man are two guys – one is built like a fucking rugby player, with his wide shoulders and long legs, his hair long and is pushed back neatly by a pair of black sunglasses; the other looks like he just came out from one of the glossy pages of those idol magazines his sister likes to stare at sometimes, with his perfectly perm-styled hair and wearing far too expensive-looking jacket over an equally expensive-looking dress-shirt underneath. He doesn’t bother checking out the pants because he’s pretty sure it’s also way out of his price range and he doesn’t want to give himself a headache trying to guess how much the pants alone costs.  
  
The moment he realized that the man is heading his way, he gives up trying to keep himself from wanting to get the man’s attention as he runs his fingers through his slightly damp hair and steps forward the second the man does, too.  
  
He honestly feels a little dizzy the moment the man rips his gaze from his phone to meet his, feels another unfamiliar wave of heat sweeping him off his feet when the man tilts his head a little to the side, his belly clenching deliciously as he slowly watch the man’s lips curl into a smile.  
  
“Hi,”  
  
He blinks and blinks again, wonders how the tables turned so suddenly and abruptly because this close, he is pretty fucking sure his confidence is wavering, especially when he realized how unbelievably arresting the man’s beauty is. Though they’re of almost the same height, the man’s build is a little stockier and he can just imagine holding on to those lightly-muscled shoulders as the man pounds into him repeatedly; his cherub-shaped face and cute, button nose would have been a little out of place with how sinfully erotic the man’s mouth looks up close but it only made him all the more attractive and god damn it, he is hard before he even realizes it.  
  
He does his best to look as nonchalant as he normally should, quirking an eyebrow at the man and sidestepping him.  
  
It’s a ruse, a test, something he’s always been good at. Though this time it’s a little difficult to determine whether someone as hot as this man would be so willing to take his bait as he hitches his bag up his shoulder again and starts to walk away.  
  
“Wait,” the man’s voice calls out to him and he feels as if every nerve-ending in his body tingles at the sound of the man’s voice. He doesn’t dare look back despite the fact that he really, really wants to, satisfying himself with the sound of the man’s quiet footsteps as the man catches up to him.  
  
“What am I waiting for?” he asks when the man is close enough to hear him, wishes his voice is as confident as he wants it to be. It’s hard, though, when his heart is doing that complicated dance inside his ribcage, and he’s having trouble regulating his breathing when everytime he inhales, he is flooded with the man’s deliciously masculine scent.  
  
The man smiles and he feels the flutter of something dangerous in his stomach the minute he glances up and finds the man staring hungrily at him.  
  
“Where are you heading at?” the man asks, and god, even the way he speaks is so sexy he finds himself watching the man’s mouth as he talks, the way his lips twitch at every syllable, imagining the way it must feel having those lips moving against his own.  
  
He barely able to suppress his own smile but manages to at least cover it up with a shrug. Crossing his arms over his chest in a clear ‘ _what the fuck do you want from me’_ gesture, he tilts his head and does his best to put on his most charming smile whilst keeping his stance as defensive as possible. It completely contradicts the smile on his face but he figures it’s just precautionary. The man is practically a stranger, afterall, and despite the way his dick is behaving inside his fucking pants, he knows best not to let himself be lead around by his lust no matter how obvious it is that the man wants him too.  
  
“Chiba,” he says, biting the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from smiling. Then, “But I don’t think that’s any of your business, right? I mean, we’re not –“  
  
“I’m heading there too,” the man cuts him off with a curt nod to probably one of his companions, smiling again in a way that makes places inside his belly clench in delicious anticipation. “How about we go there together, get to know each other on the way and maybe –“  
  
He does laugh here, his shoulders shakes as tiny puffs of mirth tumbles out of his mouth and it effectively cut off whatever the man is about to say next. “Seriously? Don’t think that just because you’re hot, you can ask me to go wherever you want to go and I won’t even question it. Goodness, I don’t even know you –“  
  
“Ohno,” the man cuts in, giving him another of those toe-curling smiles that makes him want to reach out and touch the corners of the man’s mouth with his fingertips. God, why’s he so fucking good-looking aside from being so hot?  
  
“What?” he asks, confused.  
  
“My name, it’s Ohno,” the man says, and before he can say anything, one of the man’s companion – the Hollywood actor-like guy steps forward with his hand outstretched, obviously handing him something. He takes it without actually thinking, staring at it and feeling slightly dumb as he does so.  
  
“Satoshi Ohno,” he realizes he’s mumbling out loud when the man confirms this with a soft laugh, feeling warm all over. “3104 Marine Services International," he reads under his breath. He raises his head to find the man's gaze raking him with such hunger that makes him dizzy, stepping back a little to compose himself.  
  
The man chuckles and holds out his hand. "That's me," the man says, offering him a handshake which he absently returns, gasping when the man ends up stroking his knuckles tenderly. He swallows the urge to whimper, because the man could have been stroking him in his most sensitive of places with the way his dick twitches in response to the man's touch.  
  
"Will you at least tell your name?" the man asks, his smile still in place though it looks somehow predatory.  
  
He grins and shakes his head, giving up entirely on pretending he doesn't want what the man wants in return.  
  
"Ninomiya," he says, licking his lips and enjoying the way the man's gaze drifts from his eyes to his mouth. "Kazunari Ninomiya,"  
  
The man pushes himself a little closer to his space though he feels none of the awkwardness he supposes he should feel, and instead, the gesture only heightens the urge to run his fingers across the man's skin.  
  
"Nice to meet you -" the man whispers, his warm breath hitting his face and he almost wishes they're not in a public place but somewhere a little private where he could just crowd the man back and kiss him senseless. He bites his lips and smiles instead.  
  
_"Kazu."_


	2. Snared

Ohno felt the demon’s presence behind him even before it spoke.  
  
“Get away from him, dickhead,” Nino seethes from where he is, fingers clutching something beneath his jacket. Ohno can’t tell what it is but he’s got some idea.  
  
The demon behind him seethes in answer. “Get your bitch and your dogs out of my way, Sentinel,” the demon says, “I’m not doing anything wrong so just go the fuck out and leave me alone,”  
  
“Fuck you,” Nino barks, eyes smoldering. “You think I can’t feel it? The evilness in you is overflowing, you asshole, and I’m not going to walk out of here knowing I’ll leave something like you behind,” Nino says, jaw taut, before a streak of silver goes flying by and he barely has time to turn his head enough to catch it.  
  
He’s fast but the silver dagger sure was faster, hitting the demon straight in the chest before the demon has time to blink. The demon staggers on its feet, clutching its chest as dark liquid oozes out from the demon’s chest, and out his eyes and mouth and nose.  
  
He hasn’t even managed to take a step back when the demon disintegrates in front of him, leaving behind a mess of its once human shell.  
  
“Fuck, that’s never an easy sight, I know,” from behind him, Nino is murmuring, and he’s only vaguely aware of Nagase and Maruyama rounding the way to stand by his side, Nagase following Nino as Nino goes to the front and inspects the remains of the demon he just slain.  
  
Ohno raises his head, chest pounding hard as his gaze zooms in to Nino’s face, to the god-fucking satisfied grin curving the edges of his mouth and Ohno feels the hot surge of desire for the other man who clearly isn’t someone he’s expecting, at all.  
  
To be honest, finding _Kazuko’s_ incarnation this time around to be that of a guy should have been reason enough to be shocked, but the fact barely moved him. _She_ always came back as a girl, in all her past incarnations afterall (this being the first time that she didn’t), but finding that she _isn’t_ doesn’t matter, not really.  
  
What matters is the fact that he’s staring at the man who’s now housing the soul of the woman who owns him, watches the way he stares at the remains of the demon in creepy satisfaction as he claims his dagger back and slips it inside his jacket pocket quietly. It would have been a sight to behold if not for the slow surge of fury settling all over him, making his fingertips tingle as he realizes that the reason he’s breathing has just put himself in an insurmountable danger, and taking this whole _get-to-know-you-first_ bullshit into a faster phase than he’s previously planned.  
  
He’s got Nino backed against the nearest wall before Nino has time to react, seizing Nino’s arms and raising them above his head as he stares at Nino’s face.  
  
“Do you want to fucking tell me what the hell was that or should we discuss all of this over dinner?” he asks, keeping his face carefully blank despite the tremor rocking his core. He can feel his wings’ desire to break free as is his body’s desire to take Nino right then and there , but he held back.  
  
He knows Nino can feel it, too, eversince they crossed paths but knowing what Nino is capable, now, he’s sure as hell Nino isn’t going to give in that easily. Even despite the raging sexual tension buzzing in between them, he can sense the other man’s wariness towards him, knows that if anything, Nino’s soul recognizes him despite the fact that it’s the first time they’ve been reunited after over century since Kazuko was taken away from him, and it's obviously freaking the hell out of the other man even without him saying it.  
  
But he remembers how strong-willed and determined his Kazuko was, and Nino obviously possesses that characteristic despite the gender difference. Ohno's Kazuko could ensnare the devil himself if she wants to, and his attraction to her is and always had been her greatest weapon against him.  
  
He could feel it now thrumming underneath his skin, down to his fingertips, this aching need to be inside her -- inside him -- and posses this body that holds the soul of his Kazuko. He has barely manage to keep it together, this craving he only ever feels for her, despite the length of time that he's been without her, and it's definitely going to be a thousand times harder to resist now that he has Nino so close enough to touch.  
  
Nino’s smirk, as was Kazuko’s, is playful and teasing, his breath fanning Ohno’s face like a lover’s when he leans down to whisper into Ohno’s face.  
  
“Only if you promise hamburger,” Nino says, low and soft, and making the inside of Ohno’s belly clench in delicious anticipation.  
  
It took all of his reserved strength not to lean in for a little taste, squashing the urge to reacquaint himself to all of Kazuko’s taste from this new body by taking a step back and putting Nino gently on his feet.  
  
He reaches over and touches the side of Nino’s mouth, feels the hitch on his breath when he does so and wonders how long it’ll take him before his desires consumes him, before these urges he keeps carefully locked in for a hundred years explodes right into his face.  
  
He’s not sure if he’s going to be strong enough to resist _her_ – resist _him_ – when he’s this close and this real, that the feel of his skin against his is enough to ignite the fire within him that no one else is able to even after so many years of being without him – or the soul he carries within him.  
  
His body _burns_ for her, his soul _craves_ her; it doesn’t matter that he won’t be able to touch her familiar curves he’s craved for for years, doesn’t matter that he won’t be able to take her the way he used to, because he knows, even without looking, that inside Nino lies the soul of the woman he would wholeheartedly give up his life and his everything for.  
  
“Hamburger it is, then,” he says, gesturing back for the lycans to clear the store as he grabs Nino’s hand and guides them both out the door.


	3. Don't stop

“Tell me why I feel this way about you,” Nino asks, his eyes are as dark as the sky overhead and the air between them is charged with something heady and dangerous. “And out of all those people at the airport eyeing you like a goddamn fresh meat on display, what made you decide to seek me out when I’m obviously not as hot as those others who obviously made an effort for you to notice them?”  
  
He chuckles here, couldn’t not, because despite Nino’s attempt at humbleness, his words are still coated with some hints of boastfulness, a trait which clearly reminds him of Kazuko.  
  
“You were different,” he says with a shrug, “and I wasn’t wrong, was I?”  
  
Nino’s eyes remained guarded despite the obvious confusion marring his forehead.  
  
“Besides,” he continues, stepping forward while Nino steps right back, mirroring his movements. He can’t help the spread of warmth when he sees the edges of Nino’s mouth tilts, imagining himself with a hand around Nino’s nape and shoving his tongue inside Nino’s mouth to reacquaint himself to Nino’s delightful tastes. “Weren’t you the one who made sure you got my attention first? I saw you, Ninomiya-san, and once I did, I saw no one else but you,”  
  
Nino’s back hit the door, a soft, surprised ‘ _ooff’_ slips out of Nino’s mouth when he firmly pushes Nino’s shoulder against it.  
  
“ _What are you_?” Nino hisses through tightly clenched teeth and he feels places inside his belly twists in delicious anticipation. Nino’s breath smells of faint cigarette and coffee, and god, he wants to just angle his head and kiss those tastes off of Nino’s mouth.  
  
“Check out for yourself,” he says.  
  
He chuckles and lets his wings unfurl behind him without taking his eyes off of Nino’s face. He watches with odd satisfaction as Nino’s eyes widen, following the movement of his massive wings as it unfolded itself for Nino to see.  
  
“Oh my god, you have wings,” Nino exclaims dumbly, and he chuckles, couldn’t not, pressing the back of his palm against one of Nino’s cheeks. His skin is so soft despite being a man, and he wants to just lean in closer and nuzzle his nose against it.  
  
“Shit, you’re an angel!”  
  
He grins and cups Nino’s cheek. “Yes,” he says, thumbing the corners of Nino’s mouth. “Now, can we please continue with these heart-warming introductions later and just go straight to business?”  
  
Nino shivers lightly against him. “Which business?”  
  
He grins and leans closer to breath Nino’s scent in, finally giving in to the urge.  
  
“The one which I’m supposed to take you home and fuck you till you're screaming my name, then we'll do it again until you no longer can.”  
  
“Shit – quit screwing around, angel, what the hell?”  
  
He grins and nips at Nino’s cheek. “I can’t,” he whispers, “I want to screw around with you, just as planned – the way you wanted me to, and I will, Nino – I promise I will,”  
  
“Shit.”


	4. One step closer

  
“I want you squirming beneath me,” the angel whispers into his ear, his breath damp and husky, “moaning my name while I pound into you. I want to feel your tightness clenching around my cock, your legs twined around my waist as I reach the depths of your body,”  
  
Shit, are all angels like this one? “Not gonna happen,” he hisses, shoving him out of the way with one hand but obviously, the angel is stronger. He didn’t even budge when Nino repeats the action, hissing low in his throat when the angel all but pushes right into him, his cock hard and throbbing between them.  
  
It doesn’t help that his own goddamn arousal is making itself known in between his legs, doesn’t help that the angel sure looks like he notices it instantly and is grinning triumphantly at him as the angel keeps one arm around his waist, while the other is plastered around his neck.  
  
“You want it,” the angel says, mouthing the words into his jaw and making him lose all his goddamn control. There are so many things wrong in wanting someone as perfect as this man – an angel, he realized belatedly – knows that he will surely burn in hell for this – for wanting something he knows is forbidden.  
  
“I’m not denying it,” he returns, trying to close his legs but the angel sure is faster, damn it. He is even flexing his wings behind him and fucking hell, he’s so damn gorgeous he makes Nino’s mouth water.  
  
“Even if you will, I’m not going to let you,”  
  
He turns his head just in time for the angel’s lips to grace the side of his mouth. “Knock it off, Sentinel!”  
  
The angel hums, amuse, and god damn it, the sound of it is enough to make Nino hard and wet and fuck, he sounds like a girl even in his own head.  
  
“What? I’m not doing anything,” the angel murmurs, and Nino feels the hint of tongue sliding across the lobe of his ear and thus making him shiver. Shit.  
  
“Seriously, stop it before we end up doing something we might regret later,” he growls, covering his arousal with annoyance as the angel grabs his hips and flexes his gorgeous wings at the same time he rolls his hips into Nino’s own.  
  
“The only thing I would end up regretting is if I let you go right now,” the angel says, “which I won’t, because we both know we want this,”  
  
“You can’t,” he says, feels the miserable churning in his gut increasing. “We _can’t,_ ”  
  
“Why the hell not?” the angel says, betraying nothing of his roiling emotions judging how even his voice is and how carefully blank his facial expression is.  
  
He wants to roll his eyes but he feels too drain to even put up a fight, especially with a gorgeous angel dry humping him against the wall.  
  
“You’re an angel, for fuck’s sake,” he says, “you’re not supposed to – damn it, we’re not even supposed to –“  
  
The angel surges up and catches his mouth into a kiss so tender he wonders if he’s just imagining it, feels the angel’s palm, warm and firm against his cheek before he pulls away.  
  
“Please don’t, Nino,” the angel mutters into his mouth, soft and barely-there touches of his lips that make his stomach quiver. “I’ve waited too long for you, for this, and now that I’ve found you again, I can’t just let you go – I must have you, now, or I’ll go crazy,”  
  
“If you’re not crazy already, that is,” he retorts, hissing when the angel pushes his hips against his again, “wanting to fuck a mortal, what’s up with that?”  
  
“Maybe,” the angel admits, truthfully; “but you want me too, so what does that make you?”  
  
He squirms inside the angel’s hold, meeting the angel’s fiery gaze as his eyes settles on the angel’s perfect mouth, the twist in his gut returning as the images of someone – a woman – blanks his thoughts out as the angel’s lips touches his chin, the sides of his mouth.  
  
When he opens his eyes again, the images are burned to the back of his eyelids and he is gasping for breath as the angel holds him close.  
  
He is leaning down before he even realizes it, pressing his mouth against the angel’s own.  
  
“Probably the crazier one, what do you think?” he hisses into the angel’s mouth, feels the angel’s tongue seeking his.


	5. Get through this

“Touch me,” the angel breathes into his neck, the word itself a plea and something in his gut tightens at the sound of the angel’s pained voice, his agony palpable despite the obvious lust sizzling hot in between them. “Please, Nino, I –“  
  
He wants to shake his head, wants to tell the angel to back off, leave him alone, but it’s hard. He looks at the angel’s face and he is hit with this unbelievable urge to cup his jaw and mash their mouths together, discover all those hidden crevices inside the angel’s mouth that is making his own water.  
  
“No,” he rasps out, shaking his head still despite the debilitating haze blurring his senses. The angel’s breath is warm against his skin, his hold gentle and coaxing. He wants to succumb to it, lean into the angel’s touch but he knows he needs to be the one in control or else – “You know how badly this will end if I let you – if I let us go at it without considering the consequences. Because there will be, and I’m afraid I’d –“  
  
“Fuck it all,” the angel curses, reaching behind him to squeeze his ass through his jeans. The angel flexes his wings in a clear display of agitation, and he finds himself reaching over to touch the fluttering bluish-colored tips. “Ah, damn it,” the angel hisses, before his body goes lax, leaning in forward and resting almost all his weight against Nino and the wall.  
  
Nino keeps stroking, amazed at the softness of the angel’s wings in between his fingers. “They’re beautiful,” he comments, suddenly out of breath when the angel groans and pushes his hips into him.  
  
He is hard and Nino realizes he’s naked from waist down, and the angel’s erection is throbbing hot against his thigh.  
  
“Oh,” he gasps sharply, tugging his hand away the minute he realized what is happening. The angel’s eyes are lidded-heavily when their gazes meet.  
  
“Don’t stop,”  
  
He bites his lips and feels his dick throb in return, his heart pounding hard through his ears. “Touch me again,”  
  
He holds out his hand and finds the tips of the angel’s wings in between his fingers again, before he slides his hand down for a broader stroke. The angel groans again, pulling just a bit away but only so he could roll his hips into him, his cock proudly standing in between the angel’s thighs.  
  
“God, you’re so hard,” he murmurs, looking down in between their bodies, fingers still stroking the tips of the angel’s wings. “This – this is erotic to you?”  
  
The angel doesn’t answer but he leans in forward again to mouth something into the crook of his neck, his breath warm and damp.  
  
“Please,” the angel murmurs, snatching his hand and moving it down in between them, guiding it to his cock; he’s so hard and hot, his dick throbbing in his grip. “Please, just –“  
  
He closes his eyes and bites his lips as he works his fingers around the angel’s cock, touching him slowly at first before tightening his grip around the base. The angel groans as his temple hits Nino’s shoulder, muffling his moans by digging his teeth into the soft flesh of Nino’s neck.  
  
“Like that,” the angel begs, hips moving in counter and he is rendered immovable against the wall, biting his lips to keep himself from making any sounds. “Make me come, please, Nino –“  
  
“Shit,” he curses, thumbing the slit with his thumb and is rewarded with another pleasured moan that makes his toes curl. “Damn it, you’re so hot,”  
  
The angel leans up and catches his earlobe in between the angel’s mouth, tugging at it lightly. “You make me that way,” the angel confesses, his breathe ragged against Nino’s skin. “I’m so hot for you,”  
  
He drags a fingernail over the head if only to hear the angel whimper in pleasure-pain. “You have to stop saying stuff like that,” he whispers, and he means it to sound like he’s chastising the angel but it came out ragged and raspy anyway. God, he wants to do the right thing and yet the angel sure looks like he wants nothing but to push him against any available surface and fuck him till the morning comes.  
  
“You need to know I’m not going to let you walk away,” the angel says, his voice still hoarse, his hips still pistoning into him. “and we are going to fuck each other, maybe not now but soon, it’s an inevitable thing now, Nino; something we’re both anticipating, and you know it,”  
  
He shakes his head with all the intention of telling the angel off, but his fingers keep working around the angel’s cock, countering whatever it is his sensible brain is about to say.  
  
“Damn it, why won’t you let me save you?” he hisses, because in the end, that’s what’s important. He’s not sure about the specifics, but he knows it must cost the angel something valuable for lusting over a mere mortal.  
  
“There’s nothing to save anymore,” the angel breathes and the agony in his voice returns, “I’m in this too deep that there’s no getting out, and I don’t want to – not after so long, not after I found you again,”  
  
“I –“  
  
“Touch me, make me come, and I promise I’ll answer everything,” the angel returns, grabbing his hand and guiding it back to where he wants it. “Just – god, I need you, Nino; your touch, your kisses, and it’s been so long without it so don’t deny me this, I’m begging you,”  
  
When he looks up again, the angel’s eyes are bright with silent tears, his cock twitching in his grip.  
  
“Fine,” he says, twisting his hand away from the angel’s grip and shoving the angel lightly before he gracefully drops on his knees. “I’ll make you come with either my hands or my mouth, but that’s it,” he says, tilting his head and glancing at the angel through his lashes as he positions himself in between the angel’s legs.  
  
“For now,” the angel returns, roughly, reaching down to cup his jaw as he wraps his fingers around the angel’s cock, parting his mouth as he guides the head in between his lips. “We’ll negotiate later – ah, Nino –“


	6. Into the edge

His eyes are lidded heavily and his fingers itch to touch himself at the same time he sucks the angel’s cock, but he held himself back. He wouldn’t want to miss a single thing about this, watching the angel’s blissful expression as he parts his mouth and lets the angel’s cock slides deeper into his throat.  
  
And the sounds he’s making --- god, how the hell is he going to walk away from this now knowing how damn good they obviously could be with each other?  
  
“Fuck ah! Come on, suck me like that, _ah_ Christ!”  
  
Damn it all, why can’t the angel just keep his mouth shut? Why can’t he stop encouraging Nino when he knows damn well how bad this already is?  
  
“I’m close, ah fuck –“  
  
Well, there’s nothing he could do about this anymore but to finish what he started; at the very least, once he’s made sure the angel is satisfied, maybe he will let him go, leave him alone, maybe.  
  
He pulls back just far enough to tongue the leaking tip, swallowing the sticky precum before sliding his mouth over the throbbing length again. God, he tastes glorious, as everything about the angel is and he is left wondering how fucking amazing it would feel like to have this cock inside him, pounding into him and driving him into what’s probably going to be the best orgasm of his life.  
  
Damn it, but he can’t think about that right now and not want to be fucked senseless into any available surface because god fucking damn it, this is an angel he’s lusting after and no matter how this angel thinks they can get away with fucking each other without worrying about the consequences, they’re obviously wrong.  
  
“Ah, I’m coming –“ the angel half-shouts and he barely manages to pull back just far enough to keep the spurting head in his mouth, sucking everything as the angel’s hips ruts into him, the angel’s fingers tight in his hair as he fucks Nino’s mouth, riding out the pleasure.  
  
He doesn’t know how long it’s been, just that the next time he opens his eyes, he is on his back and is lying on the nearby glass table and the angel’s mouth is on him, sucking on his tongue.  
  
He is also as naked as the angel himself.  
  
“Fuck ---“ he curses under his breath, but it’s mostly just because of his lame attempt at restraining himself than anything else. “Fuck, why are you still hard?” he asks, feeling entirely stupid afterwards when the angel simply chuckles into his neck and grips his hips one-handedly. “You just came your brains out not even two minutes ago, why the fuck are you still –“  
  
“You’re complaining about that?”  
  
“I shouldn’t?” he grouches, trying to shove the angel off him but it’s obviously not working; for one, the angel could probably shred him into tiny pieces without even lifting a finger, though he most certainly sure the angel wouldn’t do that. Not when the angel’s weight is almost non-existent despite the angel’s body atop him, the angel’s fingers gentle on his face as he looks down at him with something close to fierce tenderness in his eyes. He doesn’t know what to make of it but it’s enough to weird him out more than it already does. Creepy angel.  
  
“Not really,” the angel returns, ducking down to press a tiny, wet kiss against his jawline. “But there are other things you probably should be concerned about,” the angel says before he shifts and aims the blunt head of his cock against Nino’s entrance. “ – things like, how do you think we should do this? Me fucking you while you’re on your back with your legs around me or with me behind you while you’re on your hands and knees, screaming until you can’t scream anymore? Though, I much prefer to do you on your back because I want to see the faces you’ll make while I pound into you,”  
  
Right; the angel is filthy-mouthed, too. Jesus.  
  
“If I tell you to stop, will you?” he tries, his voice trembling as the angel pointedly laughs at him and leans down to lick a wet stripe from the corners of his mouth to the underside of his jaw. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” he half-shouts, his tone chastising.  
  
The angel grins and rolls his hips into him, as another desperate moan hitches itself from the back of his throat. “Ask me to do anything for you and I will,” the angel murmurs, cutting him off with a kiss before he is able to open his mouth to argue. “aside from _that_ – because I won’t – I refuse to stop, not now, never,”  
  
“God, you’re driving me fucking crazy,” he wails and whimpers, because the angel is shifting atop him and is now wickedly dry-humping him, dragging their cocks side by side and the sensation is enough to make him want to just fucking shut his brain off and let the angel do whatever the fuck he wants with him.  
  
But someone needs to be sensible enough to stop the two of them from going further, and this time, he knows it’s not going to be this stupid, damn sexy angel, especially not when he’s obvious plan is to shove his dick into him and maybe stay there forever. God damn it.  
  
He shoves at the angel’s shoulder determinedly and watches the glint on the angel’s eyes changed into something more pronounced, something that makes things in his belly clench as he stares into those of the angel’s fiery, blue eyes.  
  
“Get off me, angel,” he hisses.  
  
The angel arches one fine brow at him and smiles; it is so sweet and soft and almost, almost made him think the angel has somewhat decided to indulge him, but clearly, he’s wrong.  
  
“Not while I’m still breathing, Kazu,” the angel murmurs into his ear, equally stubborn, and thrusts his hips into him so fast he doesn’t realize what just happened until the angel groans into his mouth and thrusts home, his cock throbbing hard and hot inside his ass.  
  
“Ah fuck!”  
  
The angel remains still for a moment before the angel’s arms are around him and his wings unfurl, flexing them in time with the snap of his hips.  
  



	7. Lose it all

His ass is going to end up toasted in hell for this and he knows it, but right now, that’s the least of his concerns. What should concern him is the fact that he is currently suspended a few feet above ground, moaning into the angel’s wicked mouth as the angel’s hips thrusts repeatedly into him.  
  
He’s not even sure how they ended up against the door again, just that when he tried to shove the jerk off, he realizes his hands are tied above his head and the angel is mouthing his name against the sensitive skin of his neck.  
  
He also realized, belatedly, that the angel’s cock is hard and throbbing inside his ass.  
  
Of course he’d begged the angel to release him, to let him be the stronger one between the two of them to walk away knowing how bad this will end for them. But the angel seemed to have lost his brain along with his common sense because instead of letting him go, the angel simply smiled at him and started jerking his hips in a way that left them both gasping, letting him feel the sweet, hot slide of the angel’s cock inside him, the burning sensation along with everything else.  
  
Fucking tease.  
  
“You like that, don’t you?” the angel whispers, his breathe damp and fucking delicious as it hits the side of his face; Nino doesn’t know how long they’re at it, just that everytime he feels like he’s going to tip over the edge, the angel always stops, letting him come down from the almost dizzying build up of orgasm before he’s at it again.  
  
“ _Please, oh god, please_ ,” he begs, only vaguely wondering how many times he’s begged in the last hour but realizes he doesn’t care. His cock has been smearing precum almost nonstop now in between their bellies, and the need to come is too strong he feels like punching the angel’s pretty face repeatedly for denying him the privilege, goddamit.  
  
“What, what is it?” the angel asks, mostly against his mouth before he found himself being thoroughly kissed again; it’s filthy and wet and dirty, but it’s still so good and he realized he likes it more than he could ever dare to admit. “Tell me, Nino; tell me what you want,”  
  
He thrashes his head back when the angel all but thrusts upward, filling his ass with his hard cock and the incredible sensation is making his head spin. He does it again, twice, just slightly grazing that spot inside him that is making him see stars but is almost, but not quite, enough to have him shaking within seconds.  
  
“Oh fuck, oh _shit_ , oh my god, please –“ he half-yells, tears forming at the corners of his eyes at the too-fast, too-frantic rush of sensations when the angel doesn’t only started fucking him earnestly, but he’s not stopping too. He probably realized Nino is on the verge of passing out, catching his mouth into another kiss and swallowing Nino’s whimpers as he does so.  
  
“Damn it, _fucking_ damn it, ahhh, fuck!” the angel yells into his mouth, the sounds of their bodies coming together is so obscene that it is so hot; he is mewling into the kiss, wriggling his hips and thrusting right up to meet the angel in the middle, crying out when the angel’s cock outright hits that spot inside him that has him shaking and shouting profanities against the angel’s mouth in return.  
  
He only vaguely remembers to keep quiet when he thinks he hears something – sounds of voices from the other side of the door, realizing belatedly that there are other angels outside overhearing them, possibly. He tries muffling his cries by biting his tongue but it’s not enough, especially when everything feels so good right now he knows he’ll end up screaming for it, if he hasn’t already. The angel simply shoves his tongue inside his mouth and caresses his as if soothing the pain when he bit himself, rocking into him so hard he knows he’s not going to hold off any longer.  
  
“Let it go, Nino,” the angel breathes into his ear, his voice thick with want, and god he’s so gone. “Come for me, let me see you,” the angel follows at the same time he fucks into him so hard he thinks the angel’s cock hits the end of him and he freezes, spurting his come all over their stomachs and chests as the angel holds him and holds him, hips shallowly thrusting into him in frantic, little jerks if only to prolong the pleasure.  
  
“Oh fuck!” the angel exclaims when he all but clamps around the angel’s cock, knows that it feels particularly good, panting when the angel’s thrusts his hips twice as harder and faster; his eyes rolling to the back of his head when the angel cups his face and mashes their mouths together, feels the angel’s cock, hard like rock inside his ass, and clenches his muscles around the angel so hard and the angel yells into his mouth, shooting his pleasure inside Nino’s ass in hot, wild spurts.  
  
+++  
  
“Damn it,” he hisses the minute he finds the brain capacity to do so, and vainly tries to shove at the sleazy jerk breathing raggedly down his neck. “God fucking damn it, you –“  
  
“Fuck, that was amazing,” the angel grumbles into his neck, rolling his hips at the same time. Nino gasps and realizes with a start that the angel’s cock is still inside him, and hard. Shit.  
  
He might have commented about it if not for the hushed noises he hears outside the door. “Shit,” he grumbles, pushing at the angel’s shoulder weakly. “Shit, let go of me,”  
  
“Only in your dreams, Kazu,” the angel returns in a voice that betrays nothing and god, Nino knows he’s beyond screwed. The angel turns and cups his chin, and without another word he kisses him, wet and messy, and god, he’s moaning again before he could even stop himself.  
  
“Shit,” he mutters, still mostly against the angel’s mouth, “You have to --- god, let me go,” he says, lowering his voice and closing his eyes when the angel strokes tender touches across his cheek.  
  
“Why do you keep on insisting that I do that?” the angel breathes, “I already told you I have no intention of letting you go, not now, never again,”  
  
He shakes his head and wishes he could undo what has been done but he knows that he’s going to need more than his creepy dose of awesomeness to be able to do that. “Everyone – “ he says, or at least starts to but the angel’s mouth is there to swallow the words he’s about to say. He only vaguely realizes that the angel’s kisses are different this time, closing his eyes to the sounds of the angel’s voice calling him in his head.  
  
What the hell?  
  
He shoves the angel by his shoulders and jabs an angry finger against the angel’s chest.  
  
“Get the fuck out of my head, angel!” he half-yells, annoyed, but the angel simply crinkles his eyes at him and thumbs the corners of his mouth softly. “What the hell?!”  
  
“You’re worried about my sentinels,” the angel says, and it sounded more like confirmation than a question.  
  
“Well, I think I have a few valid reasons why I should be, considering the fact that I’m human and I’m on their territory and that they could literally shed me into tiny pieces whenever they get the chance to do so,”  
  
The angel laughs, soft and endearing, and god, why is his cock still throbbing inside Nino’s ass like he doesn’t have any plans on pulling out? Goodness.  
  
“And why do you think they will do that?”  
  
He frowns and vainly tries to ignore the sparks of fire the angel is igniting within him with every tiny jerk of his hips. It’s hard but he’ll fight this time.  
  
“Well, I’d pretty much do the same, knowing that I am the reason why their Leader is acting like a batshit crazy angel,” he says, then, “aside from the fact that _this_ – I shouldn’t have let this happened,”  
  
The angel huffs out a very sexy snort that made him want to hit himself when he realized it but since he couldn’t even move a single finger, all he does is wiggle his hips and tries to detach himself from the angel’s firm but gentle hold.  
  
“You think I don’t know that?” the angel asks, “I know what you’re trying to do, Nino, and believe me, I would have let you walk away if I could but I’m not as strong as you are, and honestly because I don’t even want to. I could have taken you away from here, fuck you somewhere no one else could hear but I didn’t want that. I want them to know who you are and what your existence means to me,”  
  
“I – I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” he counters, honestly confused. “What I know is that your guards – angels, sentinels or whatever the hell you call them – they don’t want me here, and well, I couldn’t exactly blame them,”  
  
The angel caresses his face as if he’s made of vulnerable glass, tender and sweet, and god, how could he not want to stay here with him forever?  
  
“They heard you say no, Nino – not even once, so they couldn’t fault you for that. They knew I just nailed you against my office door, all the while begging me to stop, to let you go and it honestly broke my heart hearing you refuse but I knew that you were just trying to save me. But I already told you, there’s nothing to be saved anymore; I’m in this too deep already, and there’s no way I’m going to let you walk away just because you think I care more about my soul than I do for you, but you’re wrong. Because _you_ are my soul, Nino – the reason my heart beats, the reason why, even after so long without you, I lived on knowing that in time, soon, I will find you again,” the angel holds his face carefully in his hands, leans in forward to press an almost chaste kiss against his lips.  
  
“And I did,” the angel breathes, “almost a century after and you’re here, you’re with me, so don’t think that after so long of waiting, I’m just going to let you go again, because I won’t.”


	8. Good graces

He’s not sure if he should be glad that he woke up alone in the bed that the angel probably (hopefully) took him to the night before because then at least, there won’t be any of those awkward goodbyes he really hates throwing around after spending the previous night getting fucked by someone.  
  
For one, his heart is literally at war with his common sense and for someone like him who knows his limitations when it comes to dealing with practically strangers, it’s never a good thing to feel this way about someone he just met not even twenty four hours prior.  
  
Though if he’s going to believe what that crazy angel told him last night (while the angel’s cock was inside him, hard and throbbing and also making him lose all his goddamn common sense), he could hardly call their meeting purely coincidental.  
  
He throws the covers aside and tries to sit up slowly, wincing as he does so. He aches in all the places that count, in all the places that the angel’s hands and mouth had been and for the life of him, he wonders if he’s always been like this after those few and far in between one-night-stands he had in the past because he is certain the gnawing and unfamiliar pain in his chest is just that, unfamiliar and terribly unsettling.  
  
“Keep your shit together, Nino,” he tells himself as he slowly gets out of bed, gaze wandering around in search of his clothes, or at least what’s left of them since he’s not even sure where the rest are because the angel sure is good at removing their clothes without even as much as using his hands. He gives up finding his traveling bag because he’s pretty sure it got lost after their untimely encounter with the demon last night (before the angel took him home after the angel promised to do lewd things to him - and he did, things that he never did with anyone before, let alone imagined doing it with someone who is obviously out of everyone’s league).  
  
“You can’t possibly think that he’s telling the truth,” he reminds himself, muttering under his breath as he crouches to find his other shoe. “The jerk obviously hadn’t fucked in ages, he’s probably too horny and since you’re the first person to get his attention with how shamelessly you eyefucked him the first time you saw him, he figured why not? He probably knew you were different, that you could take all the hard fucking without accidentally dying and so –“  
  
“If I want you dead, I could do it with just a snap of my fingers, Nino,” the angel’s voice rings through the four corners of the huge room and he almost jumps out of his skin in shock. “There was no need to do all those things I did last night if all I want is to kill you. I was hoping you’d change your mind about me but again, I was wrong,” he says, then, “And sorry if I hurt you; it’s – I’ve been without you for so long that it’s so difficult to hold back when you’re there and I could touch you freely. Though I should have been more careful,” the angel adds, and he trembles at the first touch of the angel’s hand, belatedly realizing that the angel has moved closer without him knowing it. He feels the angel’s fingertips skimming the line of his jaw, soft and tender, like the angel is afraid he’d hurt him if he as much as touch him properly. “you’re human, afterall,” the angel follows with an almost shocking tenderness that rocks his very core.  
  
He wonders how the angel does that when the timbre of his voice remains the same, as is the calm expression on his face.  
  
He looks down and away, afraid that the minute their gazes meet, the angel will see the way he’s battling with himself about this, about everything he’s taught to believe just because the angel is everything he wanted but knows that he has no right to possess.  
  
“I’m leaving,” he mutters, crouching down to grab his underpants without letting go of the thin, white satin sheet covering his lower half. He has to or else he would end up wanting to stay here forever.  
  
“You can’t,” the angel says, and despite his voice never losing its composure, Nino could feel the underlying misery coating the angel’s tone. It makes his heart twist painfully but he knows he has to go before he ends up screwing everything up, including the angel’s peaceful existence.  
  
“Well you can’t stop me,” he bravely returns, and he’s well on his way back to where he found the other pair of his shoes when he is stopped by a strong arm branding around his waist from behind.  
  
“Let go of me,” he hisses, wondering how many times he’s said the same thing eversince this thing started. He couldn’t remember anymore.  
  
“I can’t,” the angel whispers, and it’s all Nino could do not to turn around and fling his arms around the angel’s neck, pull him close and kiss his mouth and never stop. “Why do you insist I let you go when you know it’s going to kill us both?”  
  
“And being together won’t?” he asks, mouth twisting bitterly as the angel’s hold around him tightens. “Come on, let’s stop this while we still can,” he proposes, though the painful twisting in his chest contradicts this mask of braveness he decides to wear from now on. “Let go of me and go back to whatever the hell you’re doing before you met me. Surely, you’re a busy man. You won’t even have time to think about me, much more –“  
  
“I spent hundreds of years waiting for the day that you’d walk back into my life the way you did yesterday, Kazu, and when you did, you think I’d be strong enough to let you walk out just like that?”  
  
He gasps, wonders why the angel’s words always gets to him faster than he ever let anything get to him eversince he decides to live this life, but he figures that’s just how it is. He could wonder all he wants, doubt the angel over and over but at the end of the day, he knows what he wants, and that’s exactly what the angel wants in return.  
  
“You have to,” he grits out, bravely reaching down to tug the angel’s arm off, his chest heaving painfully hard. “because there is no way I am allowed to stay with you, at least not the way that you want me to.”


	9. Ownership

  
“I’m leaving,” Nino mutters at the same time he crouches down to retrieve his underpants, fingers twisting tightly against the thin sheet covering his nakedness from waist down.  
  
Honestly, he is scared to leave Nino even for a second, because he knows what Nino is thinking, how Nino is torn between wanting him, what they have and could have together and the desire to do the right thing at the same time.  
  
And it doesn’t matter to Nino that he’s waited years and years for him – or technically the soul Nino’s body houses inside him because as far as Nino is concerned, he is practically a stranger who happens to just have the hots for Nino’s admittedly hot bod.  
  
He would have resolved into triggering Nino’s memories – at least those that belong to Kazuko just to make Nino understand the reason why he’s hell bent on keeping the younger man close to him as much as possible but he didn’t because he wouldn’t want Nino to think that he only wants Nino because the soul of his long lost love is inside the younger man’s body. It’s not like that, not really, at least not after last night when he was inside Nino and all he could think of was how perfectly attuned Nino was to him, the almost familiar and yet completely new way Nino responded to him that was so different from all of Kazuko’s past incarnations.  
  
He was not sure what happened but he’s pretty certain that it had something to do with the way Nino is his own person ever since they met. Surely, there were things about Nino that strongly reminds him of Kazuko but he figured it is just natural. Nino is housing two souls in his body, afterall, and those little familiar things Nino does – the way his mouth tilts when amused, the unique way he arches his brows when he feels something is quite odd about the situation, the way Nino made sure he got his full attention back in the airport as if Nino had acted on pure instinct alone, (though not because it had been Kazuko all along, because Kazuko’s soul sensed his presence the second they’re at close proximity with each other) – those things strongly reminded him of Kazuko.  
  
But the similarity ends there and that’s when things start to become a little difficult. On the one hand, he knows that the reason he is drawn to Nino is because of Kazuko’s soul Nino carries inside him, but on the other, he wonders if it’s all just because of Nino.  
  
Kazuko’s past incarnations usually _never_ make the first move despite her finding him first and it’s probably because Kazuko was born during the primitive era where ladies were expected to be shy, naïve even that she never attempted to talk to him first everytime they meet.  
  
And that’s what made Nino different. Because Nino saw him and decided he wanted him, and from then on, Nino made sure he wouldn’t look at anyone the minute his gaze found Nino.  
  
“You can’t,” he says, the tone of his voice betrays none of the complicated emotions swirling inside him as he watches Nino intently.  
“Well you can’t stop me,” Nino returns in that equally stubborn tone of his, a trait he and Kazuko shares but is somehow heightens by the fact that Nino is a guy and therefore a bit more hard-headed.  
  
His heart is in knots and he realized he has moved without knowing it, branding his arms around Nino’s waist from behind when he’s close enough to do so. Maybe this is what his sentinels are concerned about, why they are wary about their Captain bringing a mortal inside the safety of his own house because they don’t need him to say how Nino is so different from the rest of the mortals they were charged to watch over, how this particular mortal alone is enough to rock their Captain’s world without him even realizing it.  
  
Well, they have all the reason to feel that way because they’re the witness to their Captain’s odd behavior eversince he met Nino. Him bringing Nino here is a testament to how badly he’s handling things, how he couldn’t think straight, couldn’t think properly with just the thought of letting Nino out of his sight, his life, more afraid of what he might end up doing if he as much as watch Nino walk away now than he probably would have the day before. Not when he had spend most of last night learning Nino inside out because it still feels like it’s not enough.  
  
“Let go of me,” Nino hisses and the tone of Nino’s voice should have been enough reason for him to let go but he couldn’t.  
  
“I _can’t,”_ he tells Nino, pressing his mouth against the soft skin at the nape of Nino’s neck. It’s too hard to come up with words that would convince Nino to stay but he has to try, he has to. “Why do you insist I let you go when you know it’s going to kill us both?”  
  
Nino freezes inside his embrace and he tightens his arms around Nino, pulls Nino closer and closer still. God, was it always this hard to possess Kazuko’s past incarnations, at least those that came before Nino? Or is it just because this is Nino?  
  
“And being together won’t?” Nino bites back, his honesty is another thing that baffles him to no end. He wants to shake his head but doing that requires moving, and he doesn’t want to because it means he has to unbury his face against Nino’s skin, that he has to stop breathing Nino in and he can’t – he refuses to. “Come on, let’s stop this while we still can,” Nino soon proposes, his tone soft and convincing. “Let go of me and go back to whatever the hell you’re doing before you met me. Surely, you’re a busy man. You won’t even have time to think about me, much more –“  
  
He does shake his head this time when he tells Nino, “I spent hundreds of years waiting for the day that you’d _walk_ back into my life the way you did yesterday, Kazu, and when you did, you think I’d be strong enough to let you walk out just like that?”  
  
“You have to,” Nino returns, as he feels Nino’s hands tugging his arms off of Nino’s waist. “because there is no way I am allowed to stay with you, at least not the way that you want me to,”  
  
“I don’t care about any of that,” he tells Nino, tugs Nino again and ignores the sounds of Nino’s protests as he attaches his lips against the side of Nino’s neck. His dick throbs at the closeness, mirroring the sounds Nino’s heart is doing inside his chest and he is certain Nino can feel it too.  
  
“Well, you should,” Nino hisses, vainly trying to wriggle his way out of his hold though he wonders how Nino thinks his strength is in any way matched with his. He lets Nino try anyway. “This is your life we’re talking about here,”  
  
“My life means nothing without you,” he returns, thrusting his hips up and enjoying the way it makes Nino’s breath stutter. “So you either stay with me or tell me what I should do so I can keep you, because there is no way in hell I am going to let you walk away now, or _ever,”_  
  
“It doesn’t work that way,” Nino says, stubborn, and it is another thing that separates him from all of Kazuko’s past incarnations, from Kazuko herself because with her, the game of push and pull always ends once Kazuko’s incarnation manages to remember who she is, and who he is to her. Kazuko never denies him of his need to be with her once her memories return, and she never once cared about the consequences, of what his soul might suffer for wanting her, not when they were finally reunited after being separated from each other for ages.  
  
She’s always been good at luring him, seducing him ever since the first time she learned he wanted her so much, and she cared too little about his mission, his rank among the angels and did her best to make him do whatever she pleased by using her body, her charm, his lust for her. He was bound to her by his needs, by his insurmountable desire to possess her however he could have her, ignoring the possibilities of being punished for his sin, for wanting a mortal the way he wanted her.  
  
But with Nino, it is completely different.  
  
Compared to Kazuko, Nino is the stronger one, and it is evident in the way Nino tried, time and time again to walk away despite the heavy pull between them. Nino, who knows how strong their desires for each other, had immediately tried to step back the minute he learned, more like speculated, the consequences he’d have to face for wanting a mortal. Nino, who wanted to do the right thing despite the all-too-consuming desire sizzling in between them.  
  
Because it is so obvious that Nino cares more for him, for his soul, than Kazuko ever did. Kazuko wanted him just as much, had made sure to get what she could from him, leading him astray every single time she came back to life, making him lose his damn mind for wanting her, the desire to possess her. And being the sensual being that she always has been, she used that to her advantage, luring him time and time again, falling into her trap every single time because he never was strong enough to resist her, not then, never.  
  
“I told you, I don’t care about anything so long as I have you,” he insists, pressing another soft kiss beneath the lobe of Nino’s. ear. “So please stop asking me to let you go,” he says, “I – please, not that,”  
  
“But –“  
  
His phone vibrates in his pocket and he summons it in his hand without letting Nino go. Once in hand, he keeps one arm branded around Nino’s waist, presses another sound kiss against the back of Nino’s neck before he takes the call.  
  
“Ohno,” he answers, firm and direct. Nino remains still in his arms and he gratefully presses another kiss to Nino’s hair.  
  
“How’s the leader of the sentinels doing these days?” the voice from the other end replies immediately and he would have frowned if he is capable of doing so. The wind outside the room howls in response to his mood, though he knows his face nor his voice never changes despite the turmoil raging inside him.  
  
“Sakurai Sho,” he breathes, voice as calm as ever, though the way his arm tightens around Nino betrays this. He is slightly grateful that the man from the other line couldn’t see him, or he would have given everything away – the surprising fear, the protectiveness radiating from him as he hold Nino close.  
  
It’s natural, afterall, since he is talking to Sakurai Sho, the leader of the vampire nation.  
  
The former angel who had been stripped off his wings the minute he fell for a mortal, the way he did for Kazuko. His nemesis, and the reason why he and his sentinels were sent to Earth to guard the mortals.  
  
And who also happens to be Nino’s – or technically, Kazuko’s older brother. “Anything I can do for you?”  
  
A beat that awfully felt like an entire eternity has passed before the voice from the other end replies.  
  
“I believe you have something that belongs to me,” Sakurai Sho breathes, composed and refined as ever.  
  
“And I want it back,” Sakurai Sho follows, “Immediately.”


	10. Thirst for revenge

  
He turns to nuzzle his nose against the start of Nino’s hair, lingering for a second longer before he lets go. He already misses Nino’s warmth and it’s not even half a second passed since he pulled away. He wants to tug Nino back and hold him, because there is nothing he likes more than to spend the most of today (and every day after) wrapped around Nino but there are important things that need his immediate attention.  
  
Namely, Nino’s vampire brother, Sakurai Sho.  
  
The vampire leader mumbles something indistinct on the other end and his wings flutter agitatedly behind him, threatening to unfurl but he holds himself. Taking his phone away from his ear and pressing mute at the same time, he tugs Nino back against him just to remind himself that Nino is here and he’ll do everything in his power to keep it that way.  
  
“Don’t even think of running off, Kazu,” he tells Nino, his voice calm despite the urge to take Nino again, hard and fast and swift, rolling his hips against Nino’s backside and letting Nino feel the evidence of his desire for the younger man. Nino gasps sharply and he takes it as a cue to continue, nipping the lobe of Nino’s ear lightly. “I know we have so many things to talk about but if you just wait, I will gladly accommodate all of your questions. But for now, I have to take this call and do my job, and I promise I’m all yours once this is all done,” he says, wishing this thing won’t take most of his day or he’d have to run off himself and take Nino with him.  
  
“I do have a job too, you know?” is Nino’s simple reply and god, he wants to push Nino against any available surface and fuck him there again, fuck him till he’s exhausted beyond exhaustion itself so Nino won’t have to think about leaving but he can’t, not right now at least.  
  
He turns Nino around so quickly he knows Nino hasn’t the time to prepare for it, curling his free hand around the back of Nino’s neck and catching Nino’s mouth into a hard kiss.  
  
“Which you won’t have to return to once you’re settled here, with me,” he tells Nino, thumbing at the side of Nino’s mouth and taking note of the way Nino’s eyes darken immensely from a simple kiss. But he figures they’re just the same, because even now, even despite the successful way he’s managed to rein his desire to have Nino again, he knows Nino can feel it thrumming hot and fierce between them.  
  
“Am I your fucking wife or something? I already paid the supposed free dinner with sex, what more do you want from me now?” Nino growls and he does his best not to smile at that but it’s difficult. The edges of his mouth twitch anyway, as he presses closer and plants a soft kiss against Nino’s forehead.  
  
“I’d demand more if you’re not _that_ sore and I don’t have someone waiting on the other line for me,” he says, dropping a kiss against Nino’s cheek. “But seriously, just… just wait for me, alright? I’ll do my best to finish this call and I’ll delegate some of the urgent jobs to the other sentinels, so I can go back to you immediately,”  
  
“I –“ Nino returns, “but you really don’t have to –“  
  
He waves a hand and kisses Nino swiftly before he reluctantly let Nino go. He waves a hand and the door opens quietly, prompting the man behind it to enter.  
  
“This is Jun-kun,” he introduces the lycan without breaking eye contact with Nino, the lycan stepping forward without another word. “and he will be your guard from now on,”  
  
Nino opens his mouth immediately to probably voice out his protests but he’s quick to cut Nino off with a curt, “Later,” he says, brandishing his phone and smiling when Nino closes his mouth with a snap. “Anything you need, just ask Jun-kun, okay? And don’t even try to ditch him, because he has orders to seize you and drag your skinny butt back here if you as much as try anything remotely stupid, are we clear?” he says, doesn’t bother waiting for Nino’s reply as he un-mutes his phone, presses it to his ear and walks off.  
  
\--  
  
“Still there?”  
  
The vampire leader growls in response and his mouth curves in a resemblance of smile in return. He probably took a long time talking to Nino but he is sure Sakurai was going to wait for him anyway. He knows because the vampire leader will never call unless it’s important, and well, he supposed the matter in hand certainly is.  
  
“Sorry, I have something _more_ important to take care of,” he apologizes, knows that he sounds not even the least apologetic. “What was that you were asking me again?”  
  
A beat, then, “Don’t be coy, Ohno, it doesn’t suit you,” Sakurai bristles, “You have something that belongs to me and I want it back, immediately,”  
  
“And what might that be?”  
  
“I wonder why you think it is charming playing innocent, Ohno, because it’s not,” Sakurai mutters, “I know you have found my _sister_ –“  
  
“ _She_ found me, not the other way around,” he clarifies, knowing it for a fact and basking on it, and taking joy at the fact that he’s managed to cut off whatever it is the vampire leader is about to say next.  
  
It’s a fact that pains the vampire leader and Ohno doesn’t need to hear him say it to know it. Kazuko and Sakurai Sho are twins, and the vampire leader had expected their bond to be greater than what most siblings have. But to find out that Kazuko’s soul is strongly drawn to Ohno’s – the angel who was responsible for the fall of Kazuko’s own brother, the vampire leader doesn’t need to address that the pain was like being stripped off his wings every single time.  
  
“And I always envy you for that,” Sakurai grumbles, his voice marred with painful memories that even Ohno is accustomed to. After all, Sakurai’s not the only one who has to suffer the loss of Kazuko’s repeated deaths because he, too, suffered more pain than he could ever remember that he sometimes wished for her to never return, for her soul to have the rest it deserves even if it means he won’t get to hold her again.  
  
“Why, because you’re still sore over the fact that she chose me over you? That she still chooses me over you, her own brother?”  
  
“Yes,” the vampire leader agrees readily. “Because I don’t know what she saw in you; you’re nothing but a hypocrite, punishing us for something you yourself has committed, over and over again,”  
  
He squares his shoulders at this. “The sin is mine to carry and if I have to be punished for loving your sister, then so be it,”  
  
“And I’d happily buy first-row tickets just to witness that magnificent event up close,” the vampire leader bites back, sneering despite the fact that Ohno can’t see him.  
  
Well he can’t really blame the guy, he’d probably feel the same way if he was the one who’s wings had been stripped off for falling for a mortal, since he too had committed the same sin he punished the vampire leader for. He, too, had succumbed to the sins of the flesh, the same way the vampire leader did for a mortal too many centuries ago.  
  
He had fallen for Kazuko the very first time he saw her, moments after he had severed the wings off her brother's back. She was an angel, too, a Watcher, like her brother though she hadn’t fallen the way her brother did at least until she had decided to avenge her brother by snaring him. But she, too, had fallen for him despite her best efforts to keep her feelings a secret. She was there when he stripped the wings off her brother’s back, afterall, watching in horror as her brother cried and begged for Ohno to spare him.  
  
But his mission was defined, his instructions clear as the morning sun. Punish the Watchers for their sins by stripping them off their wings, and then contain them to protect the mortals.  
  
But the minute their eyes met for the first time, he knew it was inevitable. He was pretty sure then and even now, that Kazuko was born to be his, the other half of his soul and the only being capable of bringing out the humanity in him, the desire she managed to roused from him was too strong he wondered how he was able to contain it until he gave in.  
  
She learned how to use his desire for her, and she didn't even need to exert much effort to lure him, seduce him, because he was too weak to fight her. He had tried to hold back but his love for her, combined with his desire to have her was stronger than his control. Only a week after her seduction started and he already found himself fucking her against the wall behind his home, taking her swift and hard and moaning into her mouth at the delicious feel of his cock inside her.  
  
The night after, Kazuko came to him looking like death, her wings missing from her back.  
  
She said her brother severed it for her for her failure to avenge her brother from the Sentinel who took his wings away. And Kazuko was undergoing the Change, and he did something that even now, he didn't regret doing.  
  
And that was ending Kazuko's life before she completed the Change because then he was sure that Kazuko's soul would remain alive despite her death and that was the reason why her brother hated him more than he ever did before. She died that night but she always comes back to find him, the fire she brings with her burns bright than ever before and he is never immune to it, never strong enough to deny her with the passion he only feels for her. She always comes back unexpectedly, when he’s almost sure she won’t ever again, drawing his attention like Nino did back at the airport. She find him and just like that, her soul recognizes him, like she knows it is him even without the body carrying her knowing it.  
  
“And for your information, her incarnation this time isn’t that of a woman,” he says, just to give the vampire leader a heads up.  
  
A beat. “Don’t tell me –“  
  
“And no, she’s not a dog this time around either,”  
  
He really thinks he heard the vampire leader snorted but he could be imagining it. Afterall, none of them believed him when he told them Kazuko came back as a Chiba-inu one time because she didn’t even manage to live long for them to see her doggy self by their own two eyes when she was killed by a speeding horse carriage half an hour later after she found him.  
  
“Whatever her incarnation is, she is still my sister and I demand you to give her back to me,” the vampire leader insists.  
  
"She's not bound to you anymore, Sakurai," he returns, calmly.  
  
"That's only because she hasn't completed the Change yet," the vampire leader hisses, "Hand her over and I'll do it this time. That way she will realize how wrong she'd been for loving you. What do you think she will feel when she remember how many times she has to die because of your selfishness? Not to mention the fact that she had to die the first time in the hands of the man she loves? Give her to me and I'll do everything in my power to free her soul from you,"  
  
"Your death will take care of that," he says, "so if you have a death wish, come find me and I'd be glad to assist. But if you think you can take _him_ away from me that easily, then try and I'll gladly prove you and your legion of bloodsuckers wrong. But you know that you can't and we have already established the fact that a battle with me is something you won't be able to win. So let Kazu be and I'll let you have your breezy little bloodsucking life for as long as you want it,"  
  
The vampire leader remain quiet for a few seconds before he hears him say,  
  
"This isn't over yet, Ohno,"  
  
He hums his approval. "No, I don't supposed it is."


	11. Break even

  
“If you’re hungry, just holler and I’ll cook for you,” Matsumoto offers, candidly, as he stands by the doorway looking entirely like a hunk who's come out straight from the pages of those men magazines he won't ever be caught checking (maybe). He is also eyeing Nino warily ever since Ohno left the room to talk to whoever it was who called him on the phone.  
  
He wants to roll his eyes but thinks better of it, because seriously, what’s up with these guys, really? He’s not sure why he’s being treated like some long, lost princess who has been recently returned to her kingdom while also feeling like he is being caged against his will, probably to protect him from things he’s used to fight with since he was fifteen, although it honestly feels like it, and it's seriously annoying.  
  
Well it’s not like this is all new to him because it’s not; he’d been introduced brutally to this world at the tender age of six, witnessing how three vamps had savagely took turns into sucking his mother dry. He’s not sure how he managed to get out from that brutal incident without even a single scratch, but as far as his fuzzy memories was concerned, the vamps that killed his mother had made him watch while they drained her dry, laughing as they did so as if they were taunting him.  
  
To this day, he is not sure how he grew up fairly normal (though, judging with his in-between work activities which is killing and hunting things, he can’t say he falls into the ‘normal’ category either), but the psychiatrist who handled his case had treated him as one of her most successful ever and well, he didn’t have the heart to disappoint her, letting her believe that she had managed to fix him despite the fact that no normal kid would be fixed back into normalcy after the thing he had witnessed. He kept the truth to himself knowing that no sane man was going to believe a murder witness – much more a kid, when he told them that his mother was not attacked by wild animals but was sucked dry by people who looked like people but weren’t really.  
  
He’d rather her think she’d saved him from growing up like a psycho because then he was able to live a fairly normal life while he worked in between to find the ones responsible for his mother’s death.  
  
At least, to his opinion, he’s the walking example of a closed case – forgotten and had been put inside a box to be put away, even though everything about the case is unresolved.  
  
At least it wouldn’t remain unresolved because even at such young age, he promised himself he was going to hunt those creatures that were responsible for his mother’s death and that he will not stop until those vampires are lying beneath his feet, begging for him to spare their own lives.  
  
So he trained himself when he was old enough to do so, finding out something about him he didn’t know he was until his first kill. His blood, apparently, had something unique in it that weakened the nonhumans when they were exposed to it. At least that was what he discovered when he accidentally cut himself, smearing blood onto the blade just before he threw the same blade into the creature (wearing a cab driver’s body) he was chasing at the time.  
  
The creature was hit at the shoulder and he watched him stumbled on his feet, wheezing, the spot where his blade was buried was smoking like it was on fucking fire. He remembered jumping from where he was like some fucking superhero, another blade in hand and slamming it against the back of the creature’s skull to finish it.  
  
He was collecting his blades when he realized his hands were shaking, remembering the way he moved and almost spooking himself by his own surprising awesomeness.  
  
And he’s always been careful – doing the killing when he knew it was safe for him to do so without compromising his identity. But last night, all of that flew out of the window when, instead of waiting until he was alone to kill that demon last night, he did so in front of Ohno and his guards, a tactical error on his part that was a mystery to him up until now.  
  
Maybe a part of him knew all along that Ohno was different, even more than what he probably came to expect. That everything about that man exceeds each and every one of his expectations while keeping him oddly satisfied. Because he was never like this with anyone, especially after his so-called itch had been effectively scratched, but with Ohno, everything feels new and yet familiar.  
  
The explosive sex is one thing he’s sure he’s going to miss once they part ways, but most of all, he knows he’s going to miss the gentle way Ohno held him, the tender, almost loving way Ohno called his name last night and even this morning. He knows it’s going to be tough leaving now, but it’s better to do it while he still can, while he and Ohno hasn’t invested much to each other enough to walk away with a little broken heart than later and be the reason of Ohno’s fall.  
  
He throws the gorgeous guard a look, shrugging and barely able to restrain himself from snorting when he realized he is being watched carefully. He tightens his hold against the thin sheet covering his naked half, and realized that that is probably the reason why Ohno’s guard is looking at him as if he's some kind of cheap merchandise on display. Well, he probably should have dressed first, or Ohno should have at least let him do that before he called his gorgeous guard in but as it was, he didn’t have any say in that so the guy should at least give him some slack.  
  
It’s not his fault that he has to come in and see him with literally nothing on, is it?  
  
“Do you mind if I get dressed first?” he says and steps forward, wincing when the movement reminds him of how sore he is right now. “Ugh, I think rather than food, you better feed me with pain killers instead. My back is killing me,” he grunts under his breath, one hand reaching behind him to massage his aching hips.  
  
The guard, Jun-kun, snorts in response and he finds himself whipping around to face him.  
  
“Did you just laugh at me?” he asks, surprised; “You did, didn’t you?” he adds, feigning shock; the guard simply shakes his head and bows.  
  
“I wouldn’t even dream of it,” the guard returns, mouth twitching in what could only be mirth. He finds himself smirking at him in return.  
  
“Well, I supposed you shouldn’t but who am I to say, right?” he says, winking; then, with a smile, he says, “So, can I have those painkillers now? I’d really appreciate it,”  
  
The guard tilts his head in reply, already turning around and reaching over to open the door when he turns right back around as if he forgot something.  
  
“What?” he asks, confused.  
  
The guard’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think of ditching me, Ninomiya-san,” the guard says, tone marred with threat. “You heard what Ohno-san said – I have my orders and I don’t have any qualms about fulfilling them, so, for both our sakes, please don’t fucking run off while you’re under my watch. I don’t have any intention of pissing a Sentinel off which will result in my dying prematurely just because I wasn’t able to do this simple babysitting job, so, please?”  
  
He raises an eyebrow and pouts when the guard simply raises his own perfect brow in return.  
  
“Fine, fine,”  
  
The guard grins and bows again. “Thank you,” he says, “I’ll be back with your medicine and some breakfast, if you feel like eating, too.”  
  
He shoos him out while he goes to find the rest of his clothes.  
  
  
\--  
  
He’s never claimed to be fond with food, or eating for that matter but right now those are inconsequential because he is devouring Jun-kun’s omurice like a man who had been starved for food for days. He’s moaning his appreciation with every bite, ignoring Jun-kun’s eye rolls and occasional disgusted grunts when bits of stray rice comes popping out of his mouth when he breathes out another round of compliments over Jun-kun’s superb cooking.  
  
“This is amazing,” he hums through a mouthful, his appetite only seemed surprising if one knows how little he eats on a daily basis. But he’s always like this after a hunt, eating shitloads of food to regain strength. It’s normal, he thinks, for he always feels like battered shit after chasing creatures twice his size and killing said creature, too.  
  
Though, yesterday wasn’t the first time he indulged himself with sex after a successful hunt, it was certainly the first time he spent most of the night writhing and moaning beneath someone as that someone pounded him hard into the mattress.  
  
Surely, Jun-kun will understand if he claims he can eat an entire cow for breakfast to regain at least half of the strength he lost during the interim, right?  
  
“I sure hope so,” the lycan guard grumbles, pushing a glass of juice next to his nearly-empty plate. “with the way you’re moaning like that, one would think you’re on your way to heaven or something,”  
  
He winks at the lycan guard while eyeing the pan. “Your fault for cooking the best omurice ever,” he says, “Say, are you going to eat that or –“  
  
Jun-kun shakes his head and removes the pan from the stove and nods at his plate. “Nah, I’m good,” the lycan guard says, smiling indulgently as he gratefully offers his empty plate. “Just tell me if you want more, okay?”  
  
“You’re the best, Jun-kun,” he says once he takes his plate back and starts digging in. The lycan guard goes back to whatever he’s doing while he takes another two appreciative bites, chews, swallows, humming happily.  
  
“Thank you,”  
  
“So,” he says, taking the lycan guard’s attention away from his cutting board. The lycan raises his head and gazes questioningly at him. He smiles, and puts down his spoon. “How long have you been working here?” he asks, genuinely curious. Well, he really is, considering the fact that he’s here, eating breakfast prepared by a werewolf – lycan, whatever, and knowing that being a cook and a bodyguard surely aren’t the only thing this lycan (and his fellow lycans) does around here. There’s probably some kind of power hierarchy going on around here, too, as he’s pretty sure that Ohno isn’t the only angel with a few lycan guards around to protect him but he can’t be certain.  
  
He figures it is better to ask the only other person who essentially knows what he’s been dying to ask Ohno last night, but wasn’t able to because, well, the angel had other priorities and he was kind of out of it last night, too.  
  
The lycan guard shrugs. “Not that long,”  
  
He hums and grabs his juice without taking his gaze off of the lycan’s unfairly pretty face. He can’t help but wonder what he looks like when he shifts but he figures it’s not his place to ask.  
  
“You don’t talk much, do you?” he asks instead.  
  
The lycan guard shrugs again and goes back to what he’s doing before, making it look like he’s being ignored. He finds himself smiling when he realized that the lycan isn’t really ignoring him, since he can spy the way the lycan’s eyes dart minutely to check him out on the lycan’s peripheral.  
  
“I’m not sure why Ohno thought I needed someone to guard me,” he says, putting the glass down and wiping his mouth with the back of his palm. The lycan visibly grimaces and he grins. “I’m a big boy, I can very well take care of myself,”  
  
The lycan guard focuses his gaze on him, intent and the wariness is replaced with something he found a bit hard to identify.  
  
“I bet,” the lycan grumbles, “you slain a demon in broad daylight, after all,”  
  
His grin widens. “I know right? Did you see Ohno’s reaction when the demon went down? Pretty epic, yeah?”  
  
The lycan smirks. “I’m sure our reactions were pretty much the same,” he says, then, “how the hell did you know that was a demon, anyway? I – I can’t smell anything extraordinary out of you and yet you seemed like you’re used to throwing daggers and slaying creatures as if you’re just swatting a fly or something. I mean – what the hell are you?”  
  
It’s his turn to shrug. “Me? I’m me. Just human,”  
  
The lycan shakes his head as if in disbelief. “No, I think you’re crazy,”  
  
He grins. “Well, you’re a lycan and you’re here, cooking me breakfast, so what does that make you?”  
  
“A bodyguard, a nanny and chef rolled into one?”  
  
“No,” he grins, shoving a spoonful of omurice into his mouth. “That makes you my bitch,”  
  
The lycan snarls, baring his non-existent fangs. He simply grins and shoves another spoonful of omurice into his mouth.  
  
“Seriously, how did you know that was a demon? Have you been hunting those things alone?”  
  
He shrugs. “I mostly rely on feelings,” he explains, “when someone seems off, I feel it; it’s like all the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end and it will be heighten when the creature is more or less a few feet away from me. And yes, I’ve been hunting since I was fifteen,”  
  
“Who taught you to wield your dagger like that?”  
  
He grins. “No one,” he says, “I taught myself,”  
  
The lycan guard’s face is caught in between utter disbelief and bewilderment and well, he can’t really blame him. He always manages to fool those creatures into making them think he’s as weak as he looks and well, it always work to his advantage.  
  
“Seriously, you’re weird,” the lycan mutters, eyeing him again.  
  
He shrugs. “You’re not the first person who told me that,”  
  
“So if you can tell that someone’s not human,” the lycan continues as if he didn’t hear him, “how come you went with Ohno willingly?”  
  
He can’t help the spread of warmth rushing up his cheeks. “Well, I saw him and I thought he was hot,”  
  
“You didn’t realize that you’ve picked the one angel among the crowd?”  
  
He shakes his head. “I didn’t even know what he was until later on when he brought me here and showed me his wings,” he says by way of explanation. “I just – I was attracted to him and I thought, why not try my luck and see if he’ll look my way?”  
  
“And he did,” the lycan returns, if not sheepishly. “It was honestly surprising,”  
  
He blinks. “What is?”  
  
“That he even paid attention to you, or to any human for that matter,” the lycan guard states.  
  
"Why?" he asks, "It's not like he's never taken anyone home to fuck around with," he bristles, "I'm sure, with his money, not to mention how hot he looks, women and men alike stumbles on their feet just to get his attention," he says, waiting for any sort of confirmation from the lycan guard.  
  
He gets nothing. "Seriously?"  
  
The lycan guard tilts his head. "Well, he's an angel," he says, as if it should be answer enough.  
  
"And a hot one at that," he returns, "I bet there are countless of guys and gals before me who have been fortunate enough to experience a tumble or two in bed with that guy,"  
  
"I don't think so," the lycan shakes his head again. He give the lycan a look and waits for him to continue. "Well, as far as we know, angels - especially Sentinels like Ohno-san aren't wired like humans do, or at least like we do,"  
  
"What exactly do you mean by that?"  
  
"I mean, they don't crave things like we do. They don't feel the need to, I heard someone said that the desires of the flesh are beneath them or something like that,"  
  
He seriously wants to laugh and roll his eyes at that because certainly, the guy he'd been with last night was anything but passionate, touching him and making love to him the way he'd never been loved before.  
  
"But judging with how Ohno-san treated you ever since he laid eyes on you -" the lycan guard says, picking up where he left off and eyeing him, "not to mention the fact that I can smell him all over you, I think I'm going to have to revise my thoughts about this,"  
  
He grins and picks up his spoon. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about,"  
  
The lycan grins back. "Yeah, keep lying,"  
  
He shrugs, and is about to shove another spoonful when he remembers another thing.  
  
"Where do the vampires came from anyway?" he asks, wondering why there are nonhumans who can live alongside the humans without hurting them, same as the angels and the lycans.  
  
The lycan guard tenses. "They were once angels, who had been stripped off their wings when they committed the sins of the flesh,"  
  
His mouth thinned. "So you mean that's their punishment? They'll grow fangs if they fuck someone?"  
  
The lycan shrugs again. "I'm not sure but that's what I heard,"  
  
He blinks at the space before him, food completely forgotten. "Well, shit."


	12. Silent goodbyes

  
“He has Kazu,” he announces with more than enough amount of grief that always seem to accompany the joy of his sister's return.  
  
But even now, after so long, he’s not sure how long his heart is going to break over the fact that Kazuko always ends up betraying him, choosing the Sentinel leader over his own flesh and blood time and time again but he guesses that’s how it’s always going to be until he figure out how to end the Sentinel leader’s life and turn his sister into a vampire.  
  
His second, Aiba Masaki, seems to simply take this on stride. “Just like always,” the vampire second-in-command comments, “ _Leader_ doesn’t even need to work hard to find your sister. She always just end up landing in his lap every goddamn time,” the taller vampire follows, and he would have felt annoyed at his second’s stupid nickname for the Sentinel leader but he’s too busy trying to swallow his anger to really pay attention.  
  
Besides, there are more important things to think about aside from his second’s annoying fondness for the Sentinel leader, namely, his sister returning to life as a man.  
  
He looks up to find Aiba slurping on something from his tumbler, probably another of his weird concoction of blood and something else. He grimaces and chooses not to let the slurping noises annoy him more than he already is.  
  
“Is there any problem, Sho-chan?” his second asks, and he’s slightly grateful that the slurping noises have stopped.  
  
He squares his sloppy shoulders and meets Aiba’s gaze.  
  
“I don’t know,” he says, “does my sister coming back as a man count as one?”  
  
Aiba blinks. “Oh,”  
  
+++  
  
Somehow, the revelation is somewhat unexpectedly… expected.  
  
He’d known it, deep in his gut he was certain he shouldn’t have allowed himself to be weak, even if it meant refusing the Sentinel angel but what’s done was done and he couldn’t do anything to undo it. He feels miserable, like every single fiber of his being scream in agony at the thought of Ohno losing his wings over some stupid mortal who couldn’t keep his lust to himself, of not being able to do something to prevent it from happening despite the fact that he knows what has to be done.  
  
He isn’t sure when he ended up trailing the way back to the room he woke up to that morning, or even how he got there. He’s pretty sure Jun-kun, the lycan guard, is somewhere outside the door barricading it; he’s also certain that Jun-kun will not hesitate to break the wall if he as much as hinted he’s planning to escape.  
  
He drops his head in between his hands and moans in agony, the pain is almost as intense as if he’s broken a limb or five; he wants to regret everything they did, but doing that means he is also regretting ever meeting Ohno, and well, that’s not going to happen.  
  
Not when Ohno has managed to weave himself into his life without even trying, that Ohno has managed to work his way through the protective wall he built around himself, finding him raw and unguarded the way he never allowed anyone before.  
  
He is startled when something soft touches the side of his neck, and he doesn’t even need to raise his head to know who it is because after just a night of being with the same person, everything about the man has been engraved into his being like second skin. His scent, the way he breathes, the way his touches linger.  
  
He shuts his eyes and wishes for them to go away.  
  
They won’t.  
  
“Kazu, what’s wrong?” came the voice of the angel with whom he had spent the most of last night tangled with, the sound of his voice is calm but the thundering noises the wind is causing outside is the clear evidence that the angel’s emotion is in chaos.  
  
He doesn’t answer, doesn’t lift his head up despite the angel’s coaxing touches; he wants to disappear, he wants to beg whoever it is he needs to beg his forgiveness from just to spare Ohno of the punishment he knows the Sentinel is going to receive because of him but how? He’s not even sure how in hell their paths crossed in the first place, if he’s inclined to believe Ohno when he said he’d waited so long for him or if he will just treat all of these as some odd joke because it certainly feels like it, but.  
  
But right now, all that matters is the fact that if he stays here and let Ohno fuck him again (which will certainly happen, he’s sure of it), Ohno will be punished the same way the fallen angels were punished.  
  
“Hey,” Ohno calls again, his touches insistent, his breathing raggedly agitated. “Are you in pain? Is there something you need to –“  
  
“I have to go,” he cuts in, so quiet he wonders if Ohno heard him but he knows he did, especially when Ohno’s fingers tighten around the back of his head. “Ohno, you have to let me go,”  
  
“I already told you –“  
  
“But they’re going to take away your wings!” he yells, doesn’t realize he is crying until Ohno reaches over to thumb at his cheeks to wipe the moisture away. “Listen, Ohno, okay?” he says, batting Ohno’s hand away, but Ohno’s stronger and won’t even budge. His voice is trembling and he’s having trouble focusing but it’s this or let himself be the reason of Ohno’s fall.  
  
“I – we can’t do this, you have to let me go, like, right now, okay? I won’t let you fall – I’m not going to let them strip you off your wings and make you a bloodsucker, at least if I can help it so you have to let me go. _We_ – I’m not worth it, okay? I’m not worth falling for, you hear me? I’m not worth losing your wings for, I’m not –“  
  
“You _are_ ,” Ohno mutters, cupping his chin and leaning in to drop a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth; it’s tender and equal parts sweet and he wonders how something that feels so right ends up so wrong on so many levels. It is also painful, something he’s not sure he’ll be able to mend on his own but he will try, for Ohno. “I already told you to stop worrying about me, right? You’re all I need, Kazu, and I don’t care if everyone thinks it’s wrong. I have you now and I’m not letting you go again,”  
  
He shakes his head and reaches up to take Ohno’s face in between his hand, caressing the angel’s face tenderly, before he reaches behind the angel to touch the tips of the angel’s wings.  
  
“How can you say that when you’re going to lose everything – everything because of me?”  
  
Ohno smiles at him in that way that just melts his heart right then. “I don’t care,” Ohno says, “you’re with me and that’s more than enough; I have everything I need because you’re with me so please, don’t go. Don’t leave me again, please?”  
  
He doesn’t know what he says or if he even managed to say a thing because the next time he blinks, he is inside the cradle of the angel’s embrace, the angel’s mouth pressed against his.  
  
+++  
  
He is lying on the bed still, propped against the headboard when Ohno emerged from the shower, hair damp and completely naked. His skin, tanned and smooth, glistening under the fluorescent light and making him look all the more ethereal. He feels so out of his league but at the same time, lucky. And coupled with the undeniable attraction and fast-growing affection, it’s a heady combination that’s left him quite dizzy when he finds himself thinking about it.  
  
He settles comfortably on the bed and watches in appreciation as Ohno starts dressing without even as much as moving, summoning his clothes one by one.  
  
“That is some seriously awesome shit you got right there,” he comments, watches as Ohno gingerly brushes his hair away from his eyes. “How do you even do that?” he follows, eyes trailing the curve of Ohno’s hips, his fabulous backside.  
  
Ohno shrugs. “I just do,”  
  
“Part of being an angel, I suppose?”  
  
Ohno shrugs again, pivoting around to face him and smiling before he takes a step forward and disappear. The next time he blinks, Ohno is next to him on the bed.  
  
“Woah!”  
  
“Oh, sorry,” Ohno apologizes, though he doesn’t even sound like it. Nino swats him lightly in the shoulder. Ohno simply hums and takes his hand, raising it to his lips and kissing Nino’s palm tenderly.  
  
“Stop looking so smug, angel,” he mutters, warmth creeping up to his cheeks. “ _This_ – this doesn’t mean you win, alright? Because I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything and unless I’m sure you’re not going to end up like those bloodsuckers I hate so much, fucking is completely off the table –“  
  
“Try me,” Ohno says, tugging him roughly until he ended up sprawled on top of the angel’s body. One of Ohno’s hand he places down the small of his back, keeping him in place as Ohno surges up to kiss him hotly.  
  
He is gasping by the time he is able to pull his mouth away. He slaps Ohno lightly on the chest but Ohno simply hum at him and aims a kiss against his chin.  
  
“Stop with the teasing, angel!”  
  
Ohno grins and thrusts his hips upward, letting him feel the evidence of his growing arousal. He shivers at the feel of Ohno’s hardness poking his thigh, whimpers at the remembered feel of having it inside him, hard and throbbing.  
  
“How can I do that when you’re so close to me like this?” Ohno murmurs, reaching up to touch his face. “I can’t, Nino, it’s so difficult,”  
  
“You are so damn stubborn,”  
  
“So are you,” Ohno returns, tangling his hair in between Ohno’s fingers. “But it’s fine, because I like you like that, too,”  
  
He rolls his eyes and tries to wriggle away from the angel’s hold but as usual, Ohno won’t even budge. He sighs and flops himself back down heavily on top of Ohno’s body, annoyed that Ohno’s simple reaction is to merely shift a bit to accommodate him.  
  
“I want you to be honest with me,” he mutters, jabbing the angel’s chest a little viciously; Ohno responded with another smile, surprising him yet again with the feel of Ohno’s fingers splaying warmly against the bare skin of his lower back. “And cut that out,” he hisses, pinching Ohno’s chin.  
  
“Told you I can’t help it,”  
  
He rolls his eyes and shifts above Ohno until he’s straddling Ohno’s waist, reaching up to pin Ohno’s shoulders firmly into the mattress.  
  
“Now,” he says, staring Ohno down, “tell me, are angels forbidden to have sex?”  
  
“No,” Ohno replies instantly, without missing a beat. His brows arch in obvious disbelief but he should know better. He’s talking to a Sentinel, afterall. Or maybe, he’s just asking the wrong questions.  
  
“Alright,” he tries again, “Are _you_ forbidden to have sex? I’m sure the lust itself is forgivable – you guys have been here long enough to know it and feel it, apparently, but it’s when you decided to act on it, that’s when you’d be punished, am I right?”  
  
Ohno doesn’t answer but the quick tilt of his mouth should have been answer enough. Still, he presses for more.  
  
“Is it true that lust and all those human cravings are beneath _you_?”  
  
Ohno grins. “I want _you_ squirming beneath me,”  
  
His face feels hot but he doesn’t let it get in the way. “Could you lose your wings and soul and become a bloodsucker if you - if you fuck someone?”  
  
“You’ve been talking to Jun-kun,” Ohno returns, amused. “I’d rather you talk to me about these things, Kazu,”  
  
“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”  
  
Ohno’s expression softens and before he can say anything more, Ohno’s hands come up to tug him down by shoulders until their foreheads touched.  
  
“Later,” Ohno breathes, sliding his tongue across Nino’s bottom lip. “Ask me again later,”  
  
+++  
  
 _Could you lose your wings and soul and become a bloodsucker?_  
  
Nino’s questions rings repeatedly in his head, watching Nino’s face as he sleeps. He can’t help the spread of warmth knowing how genuinely worried Nino is over him, and for the nth time since he took Nino home, he can’t help but compare him to Kazuko.  
  
Because now the different between them is so obvious he isn't sure what to make of it anymore, from the manner with which Nino treated him to how Nino had tried, over and over again, to do the right thing despite the gnawing truth hanging in between them.  
  
He is aware of the consequences, of course, _of course_ , because he’d been the first ever to spill the blood of an angel when he stripped off Sakurai’s wings, afterall. He was the one who administered the punishment to the Watchers by cutting off their wings when they fell, when they lusted over and started mating with mortals the way they weren’t supposed to.  
  
The same way he had and did, first to Kazuko, and to all of Kazuko’s incarnation over the years.  
  
Maybe the reason why she came back trapped into a man’s body this time around is a reminder from the Creator that his own hypocrisy is catching up on him faster than he would have realized it, that his punishment had long begun when he had to watch Kazuko die the first time, and every single time ever since.  
  
He pushes his face against the curve of Nino’s neck, fingers finding the soft skin trailing Nino’s jaw. It’ll be hard, he knows it will be, but he has to make a decision now if only to make sure Nino will be safe from here on, and that he’d be freed from all this bullshit he was born into by simply housing Kazuko’s soul along with his own, at least before he receive his punishment that's been long overdue.  
  
“This time, I promise you I’ll both set you free,” he whispers, the memories of her fading so fast he wonders if it’s just him or if this is all because of Nino. Either way, he is going to free them both – Kazuko from the almost never-ending deaths she had to endure ever since he chose to kill her mortal body just so her soul could live, and Nino for the hardships he has to live through for simply being the carrier of Kazuko's soul in this lifetime.  
  
“Even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever have to do.”


	13. Ground rules

“I think it’s disgusting,” Nagase grumbles in between huge bites of his steak, spilling sauce all over the table and on himself. Jun wants to say ‘ _you’re the disgusting one’_ but wisely bites his tongue to keep himself from saying something inappropriate that will surely piss the other lycan off.

“What is?” he asks instead, dutifully wiping the mess Nagase makes before he goes back to his food.

Nagase burps once, loudly, and Jun’s palm twitch; the urge to hit his fellow lycan guard is so strong he only has half a mind to stop himself before he does, because he certainly don’t want to start a brawl here.

He heaves a sigh and waits for Nagase to finish eating.

“That Ohno is actually capable of thinking lewd thoughts; much more put those thoughts into action,”

He rolls his eyes and wonders yet again why this lycan was chosen to stand as Ohno’s guard, to be his partner when there are so many others to choose from because honestly, the guy is nothing but an animal. He thinks and eat like one, too, Jun thinks.

“Are you talking about the human?” he asks, forking a piece of his steak and putting it into his mouth. He is chewing slowly when Nagase replies.

“Who else should I be talking about?” Nagase grumbles, “you smelled the human all over Ohno, and the human reeks of Ohno's scent. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

He frowns. “Not really,” he returns, “we both saw it, right? Back in the airport, you remember? Ohno-san saw the human and from then on, he didn’t want to take his eyes off him,”

“Which is really, really weird,” Nagase bites back.

He shrugs. Well, it certainly is but he figures that even the formidable angels aren’t immune to _feelings,_ especially not when they’ve been here forever. It’s just a little surprising that out of all the Sentinels, Ohno would be the first one to succumb to it.

But even then, he knows there is something between the human and the Sentinel leader than what is visible on the surface. He’s certain there’s more to Ohno’s sudden interest to the human than what they’re seeing and vice versa.

And it has something to do with the fact that Ohno has been acting as if their meeting in the airport wasn’t accidental, that something in the way Ohno has been acting around the human lately only goes to show that none of it was. Jun could tell there was a history there, even though it's obvious that it's one-sided. Ohno knows Ninomiya, there's no doubt about it.

“Maybe,” he agrees, half-heartedly, staring at the space before him, his food completely forgotten.

“But if it’s true, then shouldn’t Ohno be punished for what he’s done? For what he’s possibly kept doing ever since he brought that human home?”

“And that is?”

Nagase’s the one to roll his eyes this time. “For fucking the human, what else?” Nagase grouches, “Isn’t that the same he’s punished Sakurai for?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says, lost in thought. Certainly, that’s what he heard, at least from the other lycan’s that are older than he is. That the Sentinel leader was the first to strip off the wings of an angel, or a former one at that, who turned out to be the vampire's leader, apparently – their fellow angel who were sent to earth first to study the mortals, then later on mating with them when they knew they weren’t supposed to.

“Think about it, Matsumoto,” Nagase says, “angels, especially those sentinels aren’t supposed to fuck mortals and we certainly hasn’t found one, at least anyone who is working under Ohno, who paid attention to someone else or looked at someone like Ohno does to that Ninomiya person, because hell, they aren’t wired like that. We both know they’re not capable of feeling, and yet the moment Ohno set his eyes on that human, he’s a fucking mess. And don’t tell me you didn’t see it – the way he looks at the human, it’s like… it’s like he knows who the human is and that he was somehow waiting for him to arrive,” Nagase pauses for a few seconds and then he whispers, like an afterthought, “It’s like… it’s like he’s in love with the human or something,”

True, but. “And what if he is?” he asks.

Nagase looks a little dubious. “Then Ohno is certainly fucked, I’m telling you,” Nagase exhales, “I’m not sure who’s going to severe his wings but I’m sure there’s going to be some serious punishment for breaking the law he himself was sent here to enforce. I mean, come on, I’m sure once the vampire community hears about this, they’re going to fucking start petitioning for Ohno’s ass to be toasted in eternal hellfire,”

“I really can’t say,” he says, “I mean, so what if Ohno is in love with the human? So what if he’s fucking the human, hell, we can all see that he’s not doing it just for the heck of it. I’m sure there’s feelings involve in there and well, we might not know what the real score is but just looking at them, we can tell that there’s a connection there. The human looks like he’s not even sure why that is the case but it’s obvious that they go so far back for this meeting to be accidental. I mean, seriously, we have never seen Ohno pay attention to anyone the way he’s focused on Ninomiya-san, the way he’s so possessive of him that it’s kind of unsettling to watch,”

“Exactly,” Nagase agrees, “and that’s exactly what is batshit confusing about all this. The fact that Ohno’s fucking a human and acting like _that_ is the most natural thing for a sentinel is beyond me,”

He shakes his head. “I guess even the Creator has anticipated this,” he says, “his angels have been here long enough to adapt to the human world. And lust has always been the hardest to conquer, so all of this is hardly surprising,”

“But he doesn’t have to act all smug about it,” Nagase huffs.

“He’s not,” he returns, “Ohno-san maybe a lot of things but I can tell that he genuinely cares for the human. I mean, it's not like he's trying to hide it either, because he's not. But he’s still the Sentinel Leader and we both know that his mission comes first, before everything else. And well, we can’t exactly say that he won’t be punished for committing the sins he had to punish his fellow angels over, but I am sure that if he is asked to come forward to be punished as well, he won’t even hesitate. We haven’t been working here for long, but I get why the sentinels trust and respects him. I'm sure you saw it too. He does his job admirably, he treats his sentinels, even us, with respect, even though we don't really deserve it. 

He's the leader because he deserves to be one, because he lives and breathes his mission, but despite that, his feelings for the human is palpable, undeniably real, to be honest. I'm sure he knows his mistake, and he's not trying to act all apologetic about it. He doesn't have to. He owned his mistakes when he fell for the human and I’m sure, even without hearing it straight from Ohno-san himself, that he isn’t going to fabricate any excuses just to be spared of the punishment when he is presented with it.”

Nagase looks at him as if he can’t believe what he is saying and to be honest, Jun couldn’t either. It’s just that, he had developed this certain fondness for the human despite the short length of time they were together. And well, he can’t exactly see himself falling for the same sharp-tongued and witty human but he can’t deny the fact that the human is unique in his own ways, charming and unpredictable, funny and crazy at the same time but he finds himself wanting to protect the human at all cost, anyway.

“Careful, Matsumoto,” Nagase bristles, “or I might end up thinking your loyalty is no longer with the lycans but with Sentinels now,”

He shrugs. “Think what you want, Nagase,” he returns noncommittally, knowing that Nagase doesn’t have the strength nor the courage to contradict him anyway. None of them lycans can, anyway.

\--

“You still haven’t told me the reason why you hunt,”

Nino gives him a look and pretends to be engrossed in cleaning his blades. He summons one where it landed swiftly in the palm of his hand and offers Nino a smile when it successfully made Nino look up.

“You’re ignoring me,” he says, wishes his voice sounded more accusing but he doesn’t want his sentinels to get the wrong idea about him keeping Nino here. Of course they already know about Kazuko, about her power over him and how her return remains to be one of the things that kept him going but they certainly don’t have any idea that Nino managed to change all that.

Now, he cares not only for Kazuko but he genuinely cares for Nino, too. He isn’t sure how it happened, but during the past days he’s with Nino, he finds the man so passionately fascinating he can’t help but try and dig a little deeper, if only to know more about the man whose lips fit perfectly against his.

Nino huffs, rolling his eyes to the heavens. “I _am_ trying to ignore you, there’s a difference,” Nino says, mouth tilting just the tiniest bit and he honestly has to keep himself from wanting to devour Nino’s lush mouth by planting his feet firmly against the floor he’s standing on.

He wants to go there, wants to put his arms around Nino’s body and pulls him close but Nino said he’s not allowed to unless Nino is sure he won’t be punished the same way the vampires did.

But really, who is he to know that?

He was sent here, along with the others, to deliver the punishment to the ones that were sent before them, at the same time he was given the mission to keep the punished angels - the vampires - in check, to make sure they won’t wreak havoc and terror to the mortals the way they all feared the vampires would, eventually. He is a warrior, much like the rest of the angels that were sent here with him, a living, breathing killing machine, at least until Kazuko came along.

He, too, had committed the sin he punished the first vampires for, and he’s sure he’s going to take the blunt end of his hypocrisy when the right time comes. But for now, he has this – he has Kazuko’s soul back, housed inside the body of the most interesting guy he has ever met in his goddamn long, immortal life, and whatever complication he would have to deal with in the end would have to wait.

“Still worried, is that why?” he asks, keeping his eyes on Nino’s fingers. They are short and stubby, almost the same with Kazuko’s – only a little rougher, warmer, when Nino used them to touch him, his face, his body.

“Can’t blame me,” Nino muses, inspecting his blade, turning it and checking it over and over, maybe for stains or something. “I know I’m stubborn but you’re even worse; you’re all set to lose those beautiful wings, your rank, your soul, over some lousy human. Certainly, I am allowed to feel upset, at the very least, right?”

He chuckles and summons another blade, hearing Nino’s returning snort. “What if I tell you I won’t be punished the same way that the vampires were punished,” he asks, more like lies through his teeth; he’s good at it, he figures, for his voice doesn’t even waver when he said them, and Nino looks like he’s seconds away from believing him.

He grins and summons the blade back to where Nino placed them before.

“Will you let me touch you again?” he follows, his tone softer than a caress.

Nino’s eyes are pair of dark, molten pools of desire that the sight of it is enough to make his stomach clench in anticipation, his cock hard in seconds.

“What kind of punishment are we talking about, then?” Nino asks, breathless. He smiles.

He is next to Nino before Nino could blink, hands on Nino’s face and their mouths not even a breath apart.

“Not the painful kind, I assure you,” he says, already leaning in to close the distance between their mouths, and only slightly thankful that Nino has no ability to read minds the same way he has or he’d be found out immediately.

He takes Nino’s face in hand and kisses Nino softly, all the while thinking that not having this for the rest of his immortal life is painful enough, and that waiting for that punishment to be bestowed upon him would be like the salvation his soul prefers to receive for losing this, for losing Nino.

“Oh-chan –“

“Shhh,” he hushes Nino, kissing Nino’s mouth tenderly. “Don’t deny me this, please, I can’t stand it.” he begs, and kisses Nino again.

He's going to have to improvise, lie through his teeth just to have Nino close like this, and god, wouldn't that be the sweetest punishment he knows he doesn't deserve? But it's okay. It's okay. For now, he'll take what he can get and he will worry about the consequences later. And as he moans into Nino's mouth, fingers drifting from the small of Nino's back down to cup Nino's buttcheeks possessively, he decides that this, right here, is worth getting his ass toasted in eternal hellfire. 


	14. Two steps behind

He wakes to the feel of something soft pressed against his lips, opening his eyes just in time for it to disappear.  
  
He groans, still too sleepy to think of anything bitchy to say, realizing that he's just been molested in his sleep (even though he doesn't really mind being molested if it's the angel molesting him anyway) when he is met with the angel’s god-fucking-gorgeous face, looking so unfairly beautiful at such ungodly hour.  
  
“Hey sleepy-head,” the angel breathes against his cheek, the angel’s mouth feels soft and warm against his skin.  
  
“Hey yourself,” he murmurs in return, squeezing his eyes shut and finds himself leaning in further to the touch, feeling the angel’s palm closing around the side of his neck. “What time’s it?” he adds, outright refuses to open his eyes despite the angel’s coaxing.  
  
“A little over six,”  
  
He squints at the angel’s face and he swears his breath catches at the sight of the angel’s smile, feels the unfamiliar twisting in his chest at the sight of it.  
  
“In the evening?” he asks, if only to cover the way he is having a hard time focusing his eyes what with the way his heart is behaving inside his ribcage.  
  
The angel chuckles and god, just the sound of it is enough to make the fireworks go off inside him. He pops an eye open and squints at the angel’s face once again, his attention caught between wanting to curl his hand around the angel’s neck and tugging him down for a kiss but stops short when he is treated with the sight of the early morning sunshine pilfering through the slightly opened window, bathing the angel with orange and yellowish glow that makes him look even more beautiful than he already are.  
  
“No, silly,” the angel says, fingering the side of his mouth before the angel is ducking down to give him a proper morning kiss. He is parting his lips before he even realizes it, the supposed awkwardness of kissing someone while he hadn’t even brushed his teeth yet seems nothing but a distant memory, something he couldn’t be bothered to think about as he kisses the angel back.  
  
The angel pulls away and a whining noise tears itself from the back of his throat, finds himself leaning up to follow the lost heat, his mouth seeking the angel’s own unconsciously. The angel all but laughs softly and gives in, kisses him once, twice, before pressing his third, hard kiss into his mouth and pulling away.  
  
“It’s morning, and I have to go,” says the angel, stroking the nape of his neck tenderly.  
  
“Go where?” he asks, marginally awake now than he was seconds ago. He pulls himself upright from the bed, then groans at the now familiar soreness invading his lower half.  
  
“What? What is it?” the angel is immediately there to cup his cheek, his expression shows none of the agitation that is presently marring his voice. The covers are then thrown to the side in an instant, revealing his naked body as the angel’s fingers, careful and tender, are on him, brushing soothing touches across the purplish bruises marring his skin that the angel put there himself . “Where does it hurt? Tell me, tell me, Kazu,”  
  
He whimpers at the sudden heat that creeps up his spine, batting the angel’s hands away weakly. It’s so difficult to think when the angel is near, cursing himself for wanting the angel still even after a whole night of being with him.  
  
“It’s nothing,” he manages to grit despite the growing soreness on his lower back – the obvious reminder that he’s been thoroughly fucked the night before – face growing hot at the memory of himself grasping the angel’s shoulders for support as he rode the angel’s cock hard.  
  
“You’re in pain,” the angel mumbles, branding an arm around his waist from behind and thus preventing him from moving away, before he feels the angel’s lips against one of his shoulder blades. “I’m so sorry,”  
  
He shakes his head and leans back into the angel’s hold, eyes closing on their own as the angel buries his face against the crook of his neck, inhaling him in.  
  
“It’s not something a simple painkiller couldn’t fix so quit the worrying,” he retorts, patting the angel’s hands clasped around his front. “And I thought I heard you said something about going somewhere,” he says, tilting his head sideways, the angel’s hair tickling the side of his face.  
  
“Yeah,”  
  
“Well, go then,” he says, bumping his forehead against the angel’s own when the angel unburies his face from his neck, offering him a smile. “If it’s important, you wouldn’t want to be late, I’m sure,”  
  
“I don’t want to leave you,”  
  
“It can’t be helped,” he retorts, chuckling despite himself; “you have a job to do and well, I do, too, and it’s not like we could just abandon our lives in favor of fucking each other every goddamn time we want to so –“  
  
“That’s actually not a bad idea,”  
  
He tsks and aims a gentle, reprimanding jab against the angel’s arm. “Be serious, angel,” he tells the angel before wriggling his way out of the angel’s embrace. He doesn’t even manage to move far when he is being tugged back into the angel’s arms, this time they are face to face when he lands onto the angel’s lap.  
  
Cupping his cheek with one hand, the angel whispers, “I’m serious, Nino,” before the angel’s mouth is on him again, kissing him softly, tenderly. His chest aches with how careful and gentle the angel is with him, touching him like he’s made of vulnerable glass. He kisses the angel back with all the love he knows he already feels for him, heart breaking with the fact that this might be the last time he’d ever get to kiss the angel like this.  
  
“Fine, okay,” he mutters, still mostly into the angel’s mouth, one hand curled around the back of the angel’s neck and the other tangle into the angel’s hair. He wants to stay here forever but he knows that he can’t, not after what Matsumoto-san told him. Because he is sure that the lycan guard would never lie to him, despite the fact that he could have done so easily.  
  
The same thing the angel is doing now, lying to him just so he’ll stay, just so he won’t have to think of the consequences of their choices, of being with the angel like this when he knows what will happen in the end.  
  
“I believe you,” he lies through his teeth, leaning in forward this time to kiss the angel full on the mouth, savoring the feeling of being intimate with him for as long as he can before he pulls away. “Now go do what you have to do before your sentinels decide to barge in here and see me in all my naked gloriness,”  
  
“I’ll kill anyone who would dare,” the angel says, kissing him one more time before putting him carefully back on the bed. “You’re mine; my sentinels know that and everyone in the world should, too,”  
  
“Possessive,” he snorts.  
  
The angel simply arches one perfect brow and backs back a step, arms crossed over his chest. “I am,” the angel agrees, his gaze fierce and focused on him and him alone; “and I’m not going to deny that because it is true. Nothing is above me when it comes to you, Kazu; not one thing is as important as you are in my life so make sure you remember it too. You’re mine – you’ve always been mine, then and now, always,”  
  
It’s overwhelming enough to be held by the angel and be told these things at the same time, it’s explosive. He feels like jumping straight into the angel’s arms and never let go but he can’t, god knows he can’t, even though his chest is constricting in a way that is both overwhelmingly good and equally upsetting.  
  
He lowers his eyes to the ground, not trusting himself enough to walk away now when the angel is being like this, when he’s everything anyone would be lucky enough to have because he can’t, he simply can’t.  
  
“You heard me, Kazu?”  
  
 _Every word_ , he wants to say, but he finds it difficult to make out the words when his throat is closing up that even the simplest thing as swallowing past it is hard, so he just nods his head in answer.  
  
The angel is in front of him again before he realized it, the angel’s thumb hooked under his chin, tilting his face up for another kiss.  
  
“I’ll be back before you know it,” the angel whispers, kissing him again. “just stay put and god help me, don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone because you wouldn’t want to know what I’ll do if that happens,” the angel says, then, “Jun-kun will stay with you, just like before, so whatever you need, you just ask him, okay?”  
  
He lets himself be kissed a few more times before the angel presses one final kiss into his mouth and hugs him tight, pulling away the second after and heading straight to the door.  
  
+++  
  
He should have known something was wrong with Nino when he left that morning, his phone in his hand as he stared at the message Jun-kun had sent him not even five minutes ago.  
  
 _Price is on the move as of two minutes ago - leaving the house by jumping out of the window of his room. Tried ditching me a couple of times, eversince though; just tracking him through his scent now. Sorry I failed. I promise to stay with him. Will message you his exact location once he stops._  
  
His groans are trapped inside his throat but he swallows them down at the same time. The wind howls outside, mirroring his roiling emotions but he knows he can't let his sentinels see him like this, visibly weakened by the distance separating him from Nino. His body screams to be close to Nino, his cock desires to be inside Nino as soon as possible but the younger man is right. He has a job to do and right now, it needs his full attention. His needs for Nino can wait, and at least he is glad that he gave Jun-kun the babysitting job because he knows he will not let anything bad happen to Nino.  
  
For now, he'll let Nino do what he wants to do because it wouldn't do him any good if he's going to keep Nino in his house like a fucking prisoner. It would only make matters worse and it won't surprise him if Nino ends up doing this all over again - running off just to be free.  
  
He'll give Nino a few days to think things over, just a few days so he can also finish his job here before he comes and bring Nino back.  
  
"What are we going to do now, Captain?" Yokoyama grunts from somewhere behind him, and effectively tugging him out of his temporary daze. He feels like rubbing a palm over his face but held himself, staring at the gory sight in front of him.  
  
He takes a step back and gestures with his hand before two more sentinels aside from Yokoyama are landing right beside him.  
  
"Clean up," is all he says before he moves out of the way.  



	15. Compromise

He tries to act (and look) inconspicuous as he ducks down and pulls his cap low when he crosses the street and walks straight into the cafe when his phone vibrates in his pocket.  
  
It's an unknown number. His pulse picks up at the thought that it might be Ohno, but then again, he is pretty sure he has Ohno's number saved on this already. It might be someone else, he thinks, can already taste the lingering aftertaste of regret as he slaps the phone to his ear.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
" _Ninomiya-san,_ " the familiar deep baritone voice calls from the other end and he's not sure if it's appropriate to feel relieved despite knowing that it is definitely not Ohno. Though to be honest, he thinks it all boils down to the fact that he is talking to one of Ohno's guards - particularly the one Ohno had appointed to guard him.  
  
The same guy who he managed to ran away from earlier that morning.  
  
"Jun-kun," he returns, contemplating between apologizing and hanging up when Jun is quickly telling him not to. "How do you know my number? Did Oh-chan gave it to you?"  
  
 _"Yes_ ," Jun says without missing a beat. " _I have it ever since you met Ohno-san that day in the airport. He forwarded it to me,_ "   
  
"That is seriously creepy," he drawls, but he knows that at this point, nothing the lycan will say is enough to creep him out anymore, especially after all the crazy stuffs he was able to discover during the few days getting acquainted with the Leader of the sentinel angels. "Well, what is it? You didn't call just to chat, right?"  
  
" _Of course not,"_  
  
"Then spill," he says, locking his gaze into the cup of now cold coffee sitting untouched in front of him.  
  
" _I'm rounding the corner and is about to cross the road towards the cafe you are in right now_ ," Jun says and he jerks from his seat in shock.  
  
"W-What -" he says, but is cut off immediately because Jun is talking almost urgently again.  
  
" _And please, don't think of running off again_ ," the lycan says, " _because I swear to god, I won't be held responsible for changing form in order to catch you. And you wouldn't want your skinny ass to be carried around by a lycan, do you? Just imagine how embarrassing that would be,"_  
  
He snorts. "Won't Oh-chan get angry if you do that?"  
  
" _He won't, because I have my orders to seize you in whichever way I see fit,"_  
  
He blinks. "Even if it means catching me around the neck with your fangs?"  
  
 _"Yes_ ,"  
  
He's not sure if the lycan is outright lying but to be honest, he doesn't want to take any chances. After all, he knows he can trust Jun-kun to tell the truth more than he does Ohno. And it's just because he knows how far Ohno is willing to go just to keep him.  
  
"Fine," he says, sitting back down with a sigh. "I'll wait for you, then,"  
  
He swears he can hear the hint of smile on Jun's voice when the lycan says, " _Thank you. I'll be there in five. Just stay put._ "  
  
+++  
  
"We can't let anyone know about this, Captain," Yokoyama drawls once they were done with the clean up and well, he couldn't agree more. The sight itself was grueling, and coupled with the reason behind the murder of one of his trusted sentinel and her lycan guard, it's devastating.  
  
"I agree," he says, backing back a step as one of the sentinels carries Risa-chan's wings that has been put inside a large, black garbage bag out of the cabin. "Make sure to prepare all the necessary arrangements so no one will ask about Risa-chan and her guard's disappearance,"  
  
Yokoyama nods. "This is starting to get out of hand, Captain," the sentinel says, thoughtfully. "I think being down here for so long is starting to affect even the best of us," he says, then pauses to smile apologetically at him. "no offense to you, Captain,"  
  
"None taken," he returns, knowing full well how grateful he should be that his sentinels still look up to him for guidance despite the fact that he, too, has committed the sins that he himself had punished the Watchers for.   
  
Yokoyama shrugs. "So, what do you mean, Yokoyama-kun? Is being down here for so long means you're starting to feel more human? Do you start to desire what they desire? Is that it?" he asks, completely out of curiosity.  
  
Well, he can't say for the others but it's something that he will even try to deny after so long of waiting and waiting for Kazuko's return. His sentinels are aware about the failure he had suffered for falling in love with Kazuko and it's something he neither denied or felt sorry for, but he did apologize for that weakness and had even decided to step down from his rank as a consequence for his actions but the sentinels had outright disagreed.  
  
He was their Leader, they had said, and despite the fact that he, too, had committed the sins of the flesh, it never made him weak. To be honest, they think that his love for Kazuko is what makes him a better at his job, at keeping the balance in the human world since he himself has experienced it first-hand, the most intense amongst the human emotions.  
  
"Not really," Yokoyama says, "I guess you can say that I'm just tired? Well, we've been here long enough and have been doing the same thing for so long that it's getting a little tiring. I mean, can't we just go and exterminate all the vampires and beg God for forgiveness so we can all go home?"  
  
  
"I wish it's that easy,"  
  
Yokoyama nods. "Well, that's just me. I mean, this is our mission, right? I just. Sometimes, don't you just wish for everything to go back to how they were before? This world without us, without the vampires and the demons and all those other creatures that are living alongside the humans? Because I do. And it's honestly because I just want to go back home,"  
  
He reaches over and puts a hand over Yokoyama's shoulder, at the same time his phone vibrates in his other hand. He squeezes Yokoyama knowingly and whispers, "You never know what might happen until it does, right?" he says, "Just hang in there," he finishes, watches as Yokoyama gives him a sort of playful shrug before he scoots away.  
  
"Ohno," he answers once he is alone to do so.  
  
" _It's Jun_ ,"  
  
"Tell me," he says, remembering the reason why Jun is calling and dreading the fact that right now, he's here and Nino is still out to god-knows-where and he can't come to him no matter how much he wants to.  
  
 _"I'm with Ninomiya-san now_ ," Jun informs him and he honestly feels so relieved that he wonders how the weather outside is doing. It always mirrors his emotions, after all, and he guesses for now, it should be sunny out there now, judging with how quickly he feels better knowing that Nino is once again being protected.  
  
"Let me talk to him," he says. For a moment, there is only silence, his heart thundering in his chest the minute Nino's voice came through and says his name. "Kazu," he calls, enjoying the way Nino's name sounded when he said it, and basking on the way it makes Nino gasp from the other end.  
  
" _Hi, Oh-chan,_ "  
  
He grips the phone as he walks quietly to the farthest corner. "You left," he says, wishing he could make his tone sound accusing but it only fall flat even in his own ears. "Is this really what you want? Leave me?"  
  
Nino's tone wobbles and it makes something in his chest tight. _"I have to,_ " Nino says, " _You know I can't stay; not after what I learned about you. About what will happen to you. I just. I can't let you do that to yourself, Oh-chan. I'm not going to be the reason you will lose your wings because -_ "  
  
"We're not going to talk about this over the phone, Nino, okay?" he says, trying the diplomatic way because he should know better than to make Nino feel like he's being trapped, forced; "for now, just stay with Jun-kun. I will come find you once I'm done here, maybe a day or two, but just," he pauses, feels his chest constricts with how badly he wants to see Nino right now, how badly he wants to touch Nino. "Just please, don't go where I can't follow you. You wouldn't want to know what I'll do, what I'm willing to give just so I can go there, too, so be nice, okay? I... god, I just got you back, Kazu, and I refuse to give you up just because you think it's not how things are supposed to be, okay? I'm going to come for you, so just wait and don't do anything stupid, at least stupider than the ones you already did, alright? Please? Can you promise me that, Nino?"  
  
A beat that honestly feels like a lifetime after before he hears Nino answers, " _Okay, Oh-chan_ ,"  
  
He smiles, can't not, closing his eyes and willing the tears away as he murmurs Nino's name gently. "I'll see you soon," he says, "Bye for now, Nino."  
  



	16. In the arms of the angel

  
“If you think running away will solve anything,” Jun, his lycan guard, says in a tone that makes Nino feel like a child that is being reprimanded for doing something naughty, “sorry to disappoint. No human –no matter how gifted they think they are – are powerful enough to evade the angels, most especially their appointed lycans,” Jun says.  
  
Nino waits for him to elaborate on the ‘appointed lycan’ but he figures Jun knows he doesn’t need to. Ohno had been nothing but clear about appointing Jun as Nino’s very own lycan guard the morning after Ohno’d taken him home, afterall.  
  
“Especially if the lycan guard is annoyingly persistent, like you,” he grunts and does his best to stay still as Jun reaches over to make sure he’s properly strapped in before he takes care of his own.  
  
“Just doing my job, Ninomiya-san,” Jun says, tugging at the seatbelt as if he’s making sure it’s strong enough to hold Nino in. Once done, Jun shifts to start the car and they are driving back out into the busy Tokyo streets within minutes.  
  
“Did I get you into trouble?” he asks, lowly, apologetically, under his breath. “when I left?”  
  
Jun shrugs. “Dunno,” Jun says, though he doesn’t sound the least bit worried. “but you don’t have to worry. Ohno-san won’t have my head so long as I get you back in one piece,”  
  
“Which you did,” he points out.  
  
“Which I did,” Jun agrees, glancing at him through the mirror. “hopefully,”  
  
He forces out a grin. “I’m fine,” he says, unsure whether to dread the fact that he’s going to see Ohno again even though his traitorous little heart is quietly rejoicing. “I’ll make sure to tell Oh-chan that I’m not hurt or anything, and that I feel a hundred and one percent perfect,” he adds.  
  
“Thanks, but I don’t think there’s any need for that,” Jun glances at him again, “Ohno-san will make sure to check you out for bruises and such himself. And if he finds any, I bet this is going to be the last time you’ll be able to see me alive and talking,”  
  
He chuckles, though the shudder that runs through him then is alarming. “You make it sound like he’s that scary, like he’s capable of hurting anyone deliberately,”  
  
“He is, with those rogue vampires at least, though not with us,” Jun says, “it’s just that we lycans are careful not to piss the angels off more than they already probably are at us. Ohno-san has always treated us lycans better than the other angels, though I can not say the same thing about his sentinels. The others think we’re nothing but dogs that they can easily disposed of if they want to. But not Ohno-san,”   
  
Something warm blooms in his chest hearing that and he finds that he is smiling despite the unsettling thought that he might as well be the very reason of Ohno’s downfall just because he can’t be strong enough to stay away from him.  
  
“And besides,” Jun says as if he hadn’t paused, “I don’t think we’re capable enough to disobey them even if we want to. Because despite their dwindling numbers, they’re still powerful enough to extinguish us if they want to. They can, but they haven’t, and that’s because of Ohno-san. And maybe the only thing stopping them is the fact that they still need us, possibly, not to mention the pact they made with our ancestors, the one which binds us to them forever,”  
  
“What?”  
  
Jun shrugs. “I shouldn’t be telling you this but I figured you’ll find it out for yourself anyway. Knowing how damn stubborn and curious you are, you’ll end up poking your nose into things you’re not supposed to no matter how many times we tell you not to,”  
  
He can’t help it, he grins. “I feel like I should apologize for that, though I’m sure I don’t need to, given the fact that we’re both aware it’s true. Can’t do anything about that, really,” he says, looking past the cars window and onto the road ahead. He is thinking of so many things at once, thoughts ringing through his ears like bees on a beehive that it’s making his head hurt.  
  
“It’s fine,” Jun says. “I’m not going to hold it against you, since, you know, I’d probably end up dead if I do,”  
  
He giggles. “That’s funny,” he comments, “you’re funny, you know that?” he adds.  
  
“You won’t think that if you know how powerful the angel you spent the night tangled in bed with in action,” Jun comments, drily, though Nino supposes there’s also a hint of pride and admiration on the lycan’s tone when he said it. An unnamable emotion surges right up to his throat, spreading in his chest and to every nerve endings in his body at the memory of himself on Ohno’s bed, squirming and writhing with Ohno moving on top of him.  
  
Then his stomach gurgles unhappily and thus tearing him out of his unexpected day dream about being fucked relentlessly by the angel who he tried to run away from and failed.  
  
He sighs. “D’you think it’s possible to stop by a restaurant on the way? I’m starving,”  
  
Jun opens his mouth to say something but then his stomach rumbles noisily as if on cue. He grins and takes his eyes back to the road as Jun mutters something under his breath.  
  
“Yeah, I think so too,” he agrees and promptly laughs when Jun does, too.  
  
  
+  
  
Jun is just parking the car in front of Ohno’s house when Jun’s phone rings, startling them both.  
  
“Matsumoto – what?!”  
  
He whips around at the obvious strain on Jun’s voice, his attempt to remove the seatbelt completely forgotten.  
  
“I’m on baby-sitting duty now, Nagase-kun –“ Jun says, or at least starts to and Nino would have verbally boxed the other man’s ear in retaliation if not for the fact that Jun’s expression has turned rather sour that it became fairly hard to bitch at him for treating him like a goddamn child even if he only means to do it as a joke.  
  
“Did Ohno-san said I should go?” Jun asks, his jaw set. “What, he's here?" Jun asks, brows furrowed. "but I thought they won't be coming back until -"  
  
"Nino," a voice coming from somewhere stops Jun on his tracks and Nino finds himself whipping around to locate the voice until he realizes his seatbelt has come off and the door to his side slides open. He finds himself disoriented for a moment until a hand shoot out from outside the door and tugs him up on his feet.  
  
"Um, I guess that's my cue to go," he vaguely hears Jun before he is being tugged on into the arms of the angel he voluntarily left earlier that day. He goes willingly, without resistance, finds his face mashed against the angel's neck and inhaling gratefully as the angel's arms closes around his waist, the angel's wings curling around the both of them, shielding them from view.  
  
"God, I miss you," the angel breathes into his hair before he feels the warm press of the angel's lips against the side of his temple. A thumb hooks under his chin, lifting his face up. "Let me see you," the angel whispers, kissing the corner of his mouth. Nino feels his resolve melt, feels the ache inside him grows at the mere touch of the angel's fingers. "open your eyes, Nino,"  
  
He does so without complain, his mouth lilting into a smile the moment his gaze catches the angel's smile. "Oh-chan -"  
  
The angel's thumb is on his cheek, brushing soft touches before the angel's mouth descends, kissing him lightly, softly. Then, without a word, the angel's arms go around his waist, the angel's mouth pressed into his temple at the same time the ground beneath them disappears.


	17. Forever yours

He doesn’t know how long it took before they landed, just that they already did when he feels the solid ground beneath his feet again because somehow, the angel had kept him otherwise distracted, kissing him and kissing him, arms protectively wrapped around his body as they ascend from the ground. His own hands are around the angel’s waist, holding on for dear life, his eyes tightly shut as he savors the angel’s kiss.  
  
His back hits something hard and solid and then the press of the angel’s warm and surprisingly naked body floors him. “Oh-chan – “ he gasps, realizes with a start that he is naked too.  
  
“You left,” Ohno says, miserable, against the side of his neck. Ohno’s hands are warm on his hips, his lips warmer as he mouths Nino’s name against his skin. “is that what you really want? Leave me?”  
  
He gasps, shudders when Ohno’s fingers find him, already hard and throbbing. “No.. no, Oh-chan, I –“ Ohno cuts him off with another searing kiss. His hands are on Ohno’s hair the next instant, swallowing the urge to cry as Ohno’s kisses turned from desperate to painfully tender.  
  
“I thought it’s what you want,” Ohno breathes, kissing him again; it’s surprisingly tender given the urgency of Ohno’s touch, his own fingers finding Ohno’s wet cheeks when he reaches up to touch Ohno back and for one heartbreaking moment, he realized he can’t breathe.  
  
“You’ll fall because of me,” he whispers, wishing the circumstances were different, that Ohno isn’t what he is but he knows it’s childish and petty. He could have walked away then, could have saved them both the trouble they’re currently in now but as it is, he is pretty sure there’s no getting away from it. “how do you expect me to stay if I’m going to be the reason you’ll lose your wings, your soul –“  
  
“The consequences are mine to carry, Nino,” Ohno says; “and they’re nothing I haven’t been prepared for, I swear. But I’m not going to let you walk away from me because of them, because having you here with me is what matters. It’s what always matters and it’s not going to change, never. They can take away my wings, my life, but they can never take my soul from me. They can’t, because it doesn’t belong to me anymore. They have to take it from you, Nino. Because it’s yours. It had been yours since the very beginning, ever since your eyes met mine and you smiled at me as if you’ve just been waiting yourself for me all your life,”  
  
“Oh-chan –“  
  
“As I have been waiting for you all throughout mine,”  
  
Ohno’s mouth covers his, stealing his breathe and swallowing the words he is about to say next. But it doesn’t matter. He’s not at all sure he is capable of saying the right words after Ohno’s confession, afterall, and maybe he doesn’t need to try. So he just holds on to Ohno’s hips and lets Ohno direct them to wherever Ohno wants him, kissing Ohno with all he has.  
  
  
+  
  
  
He whirled them around and stopped when they reached the nearest couch, folding his wings and willing them to disappear as he sits himself down, taking Nino with him. Nino’s mouth is bruised wet, and he finds himself leaning up to kiss Nino again, tasting despair and arousal, regret and so many other things beneath Nino’s tongue.  
  
It shreds him to know that Nino is in pain because of him, but it equally rouse him, delight him, that Nino cares too much about him to want to try and walk away just to save him.  
  
He pulls away just far enough to brush his thumb across Nino’s cheek, the skin beneath his eyes as he playfully bumps noses with Nino.  
  
“Still worried, hmm?”  
  
Nino chuckles in answer and the sound of it is like a direct stab to his aching heart. Even those little gestures weren’t lost no matter how many times she died and came back to be with him.  
  
“How can I not if being with you like this will be the reason your sexy ass is going to be toasted in eternal hellfire?” Nino snorts, sounding miserable, maybe even regretful but he guesses that’s just to be expected. He is also touching Ohno’s face like he can’t believe he’s there, that they’re together, his eyes focused on Ohno and Ohno alone.  
  
“You don’t know that,” he counters, swallowing back the urge to laugh even though it’s difficult. He’s smiling and he knows it, feeling lighter than he did hours before he was reunited with Nino, as if a very heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulder the moment he had Nino in his arms.  
  
“Are you saying all those fears are unfounded? Lies?”  
  
He shrugs, urging Nino to sit properly on his lap, rearranging his grip on Nino’s hips as he leans back into the couch. God, he wants to bury himself inside Nino immediately but it’s clear that Nino’s having doubts about letting him and it’s enough to break his heart again.  
  
“We don’t know for sure,” he says, “I have my orders to deliver the punishment for the sin I myself have committed in the end, and the only one who has the power to punish me is the Creator. No one among the Sentinels are authorized enough to kill me or severe my wings just because they think I deserve it,” he says, then, lowly, “Despite the fact that I do,”  
  
“Oh-chan –“  
  
“I’ve already told them I was going to step down, years ago. It was the first time I saw you and realized I fell in love with you,” he explains, watching the way Nino’s eyes widen in surprise. He knows it will be hard for Nino to understand it but for Nino, he will try.  
  
But maybe not now, not here, but soon.  
  
“I know it’s a lot to take in but just think about it,” he says, smiling a little. “You knew instantly that you like me the moment we saw each other at the airport, don’t deny it,”  
  
“I’m not – it’s not –“  
  
He grins and leans over to kiss Nino’s cheek, his cock throbs when he moves to accommodate Nino and Nino accidentally bumps his hips against it. He breathes deeply, arms worming around Nino’s waist and leans over to rest his face against Nino’s shoulder.  
  
“There was a connection there, Nino,” he whispers, hands stroking the small of Nino’s back. “you can deny it all you want but it all comes down to the fact that your heart recognized me the moment you saw me. The same way I did. It didn’t matter that you’re not what you are when we met this time around, but you’re still you, in so many ways and I’m never not glad to know that you are no matter how many lives you live, no matter how many times you died and came back just so you could be with me again,”  
  
“I don’t understand –“  
  
“You don’t have to, now, Nino,” he says, cupping Nino’s chin and kissing him lightly, tenderly. It’ll all come to you in time, believe me because it always does in the end anyway. For now, just let me show you how much I long for you, how we’ve always been to each other when we’re together,” he asks – begs – and leans up for a kiss.  
  
Nino doesn’t hesitate this time and kisses him back with the same intensity, his hand cradling the back of Nino’s head firmly in place.  
  
  
+  
  
“Ahh –“ Nino struggles to fight back, arching into each of Ohno’s thrusts like he’s only born to take him, all of him; his hands are on Ohno’s shoulders, his mouth alternates between kissing Ohno’s own and biting Ohno’s chin, bouncing on top of Ohno with Ohno meeting him halfway everytime.  
  
His orgasm is building infinitesimally fast every goddamn time Ohno jerks his hips into him, the head of Ohno’s cock gracing that spot inside him that only took Ohno one damn try to find. He is shaking with exertion, sweating, Ohno’s grip around his hips faltering but neither of them wants to stop.  
  
“So good, so fucking good, Nino –“ Ohno mewls into his mouth, teeth biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood but Nino allows it, parts his mouth to let Ohno in when Ohno’s tongue swipes the sting afterwards. Soon they are sucking on each other’s tongue, his own cock hard and throbbing where it rests against his stomach and Ohno is thrusting upwards to fuck Nino hard.  
  
“Oh-chan, oh god –“  
  
“Yes, fuck, like that, ah Christ –“  
  
It’s going to be over soon, Nino feels it down to his bones as Ohno’s thrusts became frantic and his wings unfurl behind him as if he can’t help it. Ohno’s cock feels even thicker inside him, bigger, harder and he finds himself gasping for air, fingers scrambling for purchase against Ohno’s shoulder, mouth seeking Ohno’s and letting Ohno’s lips muffle his screams when he came.  
  
“Ah, Jesus, fuck!” Ohno yells, snapping his hips so fast Nino thinks he’s going to pass out, coming at the end of another thrust and taking Nino with him again.


	18. Bridges Burn

“You asked for me, Ohno-san?” Jun asks and bows his head in greeting. He is surprised to find that the room at large is empty, save from Ohno himself.  
  
This isn’t the first time Jun has been summoned here, but it is the first time he’s been asked here without an audience.  
  
Ohno gestures him in without bothering saying anything. Jun bows again and heads straight to where the Sentinel leader is standing with his hip leaning against his executive desk, his expression unreadable, just like always.  
  
“I haven’t properly thanked you yet,” Ohno starts, his voice steady despite the obvious shift in his stance. Jun often wonders how the Sentinel leader manages to look and sound like he feels nothing when Jun is certain it is the opposite.  
  
He saw the way Ohno regarded Nino with a look that spoke volume, and he swears that he hasn’t encountered anyone who looked at someone that way. It was intense, heart-wrenching, but also equally humbling to witness it first-hand. It sure seemed like Ohno wasn’t just in it for the sex, but for something else, something more.  
  
“For bringing Kazu back,” Ohno finishes.  
  
Jun shakes his head. “It’s my job,” he says; though it’s not to say that after just the couple of days he’d spent in the company of Nino, he’s no longer just a job for Jun.  
  
Sure, Jun hasn’t met anyone, and a mere mortal at that, that is as crazy and equally funny as Nino. And Jun finds him interesting enough to want to know more about him even though he’s uncertain about what the Sentinel leader would do to him if he as much as admits he already considers Nino as a friend.  
  
“It’s your job to keep an eye on him,” Ohno says, his expression unchanging, “but you did more than that. You kept him safe and brought him back to me, Jun-kun, so thank you.”  
  
“It’s fine,” he returns, in lieu of not being able to know what to answer. “So, is that it?” he follows, feeling rather uneasy.  
  
It’s not to say that he’s not completely comfortable around the Sentinel leader – hell, the guy could murder him without even as much as blinking – but Jun is certain it’s because no lycan is ever comfortable around the Sentinel leader, or around any Sentinel for that matter.  
  
Ohno shakes his head ever so slightly and returns Jun’s gaze with equal intensity. It surprises Jun, to be honest, especially when the Sentinel leader pushes away from his desk and points behind Jun.  
  
“Well, I’d like to ask for your help again,” Ohno says, at the same time Nino steps out from where he is hiding, grinning softly as he stands in front of Jun and throws Jun a wink.  
  
Jun is suddenly assaulted with Ohno’s scent clinging all over Nino, and rolls his eyes.  
  
“Right,” he says, barely able to rein his mirth in. “I guess you want me to babysit this guy again, huh?” Jun says. Nino sticks his tongue out at him, a completely childish gesture that makes Jun grin openly.  
  
Nino turns to Ohno, feigning annoyance. “I told you I don’t need a babysitter,” Nino says, obviously not meaning it, “especially a babysitter with a tongue as sharp as his.”  
  
“Your tongue is the sharpest,” Jun counters, unperturbed. Nino ignores him.  
  
“And did I forget to mention he threatened to bring me back by his fangs? He told me he’d shift in the middle of Tokyo to catch me. He’s one crazy lycan, I swear.”  
  
“You’re the crazy one because you ran away thinking you could ditch me,” Jun bites back, wondering why he’s enjoying this barter more than he probably should.  
  
“Guys –“  
  
“You’re lucky I didn’t stake you to a wall, Jun-kun,” Nino retorts, “I could have. I was trying to be nice.”  
  
“Oh, really?”  
  
“Guys, please –“  
  
“Yeah! I swear I could have, but it’s only because I didn’t want Oh-chan to think I’m –“  
  
“Nino, one more word about how you were actually planning on murdering Jun-kun and you’re out of this mission.” Ohno says, shutting Nino up immediately.  
  
Jun says nothing, but he doesn’t have to; Nino is smiling softly his way, looking more than a little grateful than Jun gives him credit for and for Jun, it is enough. He bows his head if only to cover the way he is trying hard not to laugh when Nino whines his protests until Ohno goes to him and wraps him in Ohno’s arms.  
  
++  
  
“I thought he said I could go with them?” Nino asks when Ohno left with five of his Sentinels.  
  
He and Jun stay back in the hotel where Ohno made him promise not to go anywhere without taking Jun along.  
  
“I thought _I_ could go with them,” Jun counters, “but apparently, I’m useful somewhere else. Man, what I wouldn’t give to go on a hunt right now.”  
  
Nino laughs; it’s obvious that Jun misses being on a hunt and he could say the same thing for himself. It’s been almost two weeks since he’d last hunted properly, and his hands itch to find his daggers and do just that.  
  
He turns to Jun and gives the other man a thoughtful smile.  
  
“Oh no, I don’t like that look,” Jun says. “No no no, don’t even think about it.”  
  
“What?” Nino says, grinning now.  
  
Jun narrows his eyes at him. “You’re thinking of convincing me to go on a hunt,” Jun says, apropos of nothing, “and my god, at this point, I think I’m going to say yes.”  
  
Nino shakes his head, honestly enjoying the lycan’s company. “Nah, I’m just playing with you. The last thing I want is to put us both in trouble so, no.”  
  
“Thank God for little mercies,”  
  
“But that doesn’t mean I want to stay here because now, we’re going out. You and I.”  
  
Jun rolls his eyes. He knew it. “I thought you said we –“  
  
“You’re bored, Jun-kun,” Nino says, bringing up the very thing Jun is trying to convince himself he’s not suffering from, two hours since the others left. “And I don’t want to be the one to drag your dead, bored self out of here because let’s face it, you’re seriously way out of my weight class.”  
  
Jun laughs, couldn’t not. “You’re hilarious,”  
  
“I’m just being helpful.”  
  
“Right,” Jun agrees, crossing his arms over his chest. “So what do you think we should do? Head out and do what?”  
  
Nino winks. “First off, hotel food sucks. So let’s find something good to eat. Then we’ll figure it out from there.”  
  
“Fair enough.”  
  
“See?” Nino says, already pushing himself on his feet. “I told you I’m nice.”  
  
Jun grins, pushing Nino towards the door. “Right, of course. Lead the way then.”  
  
Nino giggles and somehow, Jun finds himself doing the same, too.  
  
  
+  
  
Jun smelled the vampire even before Nino did.  
  
He was assaulted by the scent of him as he passed Jun by, walking in broad daylight the way only those former-angels-turned vampires could. Jun vaguely realized Nino freezing next to him, barely heard Nino muttering about filthy vampires because Jun’s gaze zeroed in on him as he walked past them and into a waiting car.  
  
Jun’s gaze sweeps the vampire from behind; from his elegantly-styled hair to his slopping shoulders, to his broad back and fabulously-shaped butt that not even his expensive-looking trousers isn’t able to hide, and bristles, his lust and his fury mingling. He is imagining nailing the vampire against his car, shoving his cock inside the vampire’s ass and roaring his pleasure with every thrust.  
  
He is snapped out of his unnecessary daydream the moment he hears Nino hissing next to him, and before Jun could react, he realized Nino has his daggers in hand and is running after the vampire with his inhuman speed, throwing the daggers one after the other while yelling.  
  
The first dagger hit the vampire square in the back, and the vampire turns, baring his fangs, all ready to kill his pursuer, then stops.  
  
“Nino, stop, that’s one of the –“  
  
“You fucker!” Nino hollers, ignoring the fact that they’re in the middle of a busy street as he tosses another dagger, hitting the vampire in the shoulder. “I’m gonna kill you!”  
  
Jun barely manages to reach Nino when the vampire seems to have snapped himself out of daze enough to open the door to his car and slides inside, leaving Nino fuming as Jun reaches for him, wrapping his arms around Nino just in time for the vampire to start the car and drives off.  
  



	19. Face off

“He was lucky I recognized him despite everything because if I didn’t, I would have killed him right there!” Sho mutters, wincing a little as Aiba quietly tends on his wounds.  
  
There aren’t much – and even if there are, they’ll heal soon enough, so long as those daggers didn’t hit anything vital – and it feels like they didn’t, thank goodness – but Sho is still fuming. He doesn’t like the fact that he’d been stabbed by his own _sister_ – or _brother_ , at least in this lifetime, _she’s_ a _he_ – and hates it even more that he wasn’t able to do anything about it.  
  
He would have, sure; he could have taken _her_ – _him_ – with him, the second he realized who that dumb human throwing daggers at him in broad daylight, and it would have been too easy, but he couldn’t.  
  
He couldn’t, because his stupid _sister_ was not alone. Sho could have avoided getting his ass kicked quite literally because he knew damn well how to distract a human – hunter or not (his sister – _brother_ – definitely is one, judging with how good he was with his blades) – but Sho knew he couldn’t have done it with a fucking lycan guard following said human around like he was his own goddamn shadow.  
  
“Hmm, I wonder why he was throwing knives at you,” Aiba says, thoughtful, as he tugs Sho’s shirt down. Sho heaves a sigh and leans back heavily on his chair, head pounding painfully.  
  
“Ohno obviously got to _her_ – _him_ \- again,” Sho grouses, pissed. “He always does, anyway.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Aiba asks, sounding a touché confused. Sho huffs, nose in the air, and turns his head away.  
  
“Of course, I am,” Sho says, “Why do you think she would act that way against me every goddamn time she’s brought back to life? She’s my sister, for fuck’s sake. I’m sure the consequences would be reversed if I were the one who’d found her first. That Sentinel jerk won’t stand a chance. I would be able to tell her how wonderful her past lives could have been if it wasn’t for that Sentinel Leader she had fallen in love with.”  
  
“But Sho-chan, we both know that was her choice,” Aiba counters, like he knows what he’s talking about. It pains Sho to think that Aiba might be right.  
  
It goes without saying that Kazuko did choose Ohno then, and every goddamn time thereafter. Sho could hate Ohno for it all he wants, but it doesn’t change the fact that his sister had taken the Sentinel’s side even before Sho lost his wings over the mortal who’d changed Sho’s life forever.  
  
“I know,” Sho admits; it hasn’t been easy, it never does. He should be used to it by now, he knows he should be, but it’s still honestly difficult. He misses his sister more than anything, and no matter how much he hates her for choosing Ohno over him every time, he still couldn’t deny the fact that he loves her, still.  
  
And he wants her by his side, helping him lead the vampires, as she should have been doing from the very beginning.  
  
Aiba squeezes his shoulder in understanding but says nothing, and Sho knows better not to say anything in return. They both know that he couldn’t have done anything to get his sister back now, but someday, he will.  
  
And he will do it; even if he dies trying.  
  
++  
  
“I almost had him!” Nino wails, slapping his hands against the tabletop in rage before Ohno could even stop him.  
  
He’s worried Nino will end up hurting himself, but knows Nino’s not exactly fragile. Man, he watched Nino slain a demon right in front of his face, after all.  
  
“Fuck, I was so close! So close to sending that asshole to hell, where he belongs but I wasn’t able to, because Jun-kun stopped me!”  
  
Jun, surprisingly, remains uncharacteristically quiet, standing idly by, his jaw twitching in what could be annoyance or something entirely else. Ohno is certain there’s more to what he could actually sense from the lycan guard right now, though he tries not to focus much on the lingering emotion radiating out of the lycan right now in favor of making sure Nino’s got his undivided attention.  
  
He clears his throat. “Kazu –“  
  
“No, Oh-chan, you don’t understand!” Nino insists, cutting Ohno off quickly, though Ohno is most certain Nino has somehow shifted most of his attention to the quiet lycan standing quietly in the background. “That vampire… he’s the one I’ve been looking for for almost half of my adult life!” Nino hisses, fury evident in his tone.  
  
He blinks at the same time Jun raises his head up so quickly to stare at Nino openly. Obviously, that statement from Nino got him and Jun curious.  
  
“What do you mean?” Jun asks, taking the words completely out of Ohno’s mouth, his eyebrows drawn together, and his lips pinched with worry.  
  
Ohno finds himself stepping forward without a word to reach Nino, finding Nino’s hips easily when he’s close enough to do so. He turns the younger man around and pulls him in, unmindful of the way the lycan guard has swiftly averted his gaze as if on cue.  
  
Nino only resisted for all of two seconds before he gave in, pushing his face into the front of Ohno’s chest, fingers gripping the fabric of Ohno’s shirt tightly.  
  
“He’s the reason I ended up hunting,” Nino whispers, voice shaking. “He was the one who made me do what I’m doing.”  
  
He breathes in deep, and presses his lips against the side of Nino’s temple. He could sense the underlying pain marring Nino’s voice, the almost unexpected misery tainting his every word.  
  
“Explain,” he says, and it’s a plea as much as it is a command, meeting the lycan’s gaze above Nino’s head.  
  
He feels more than hears Nino’s trembling voice, muffled against his shirt, as he recalls the entirety of how he lost everything that’s precious in his life – his family – because of that particular vampire.  
  
  
++  
  
The last thing Jun wants is to get involved, at least more than he supposed he should but watching the Sentinel Leader pace around, expression passive despite the brewing storm outside, Jun knows there’s no helping it.  
  
Jun often wonders how the Sentinel Leader does that, how he could look so genuinely unaffected even when the weather outside mirrors his mood. Jun didn’t realize it until one of the oldest lycan serving the Sentinels pointed out.  
  
“And you want me to believe that?” Ohno-san says to whoever he is talking with on the phone – Jun suspects it’s the vampire Nino almost annihilated earlier, and if not, maybe someone who knows said vampire personally – the tone of his voice unchanging despite the fact that he’s flexing his wings behind him almost unconsciously.  
  
On the couch, Ninomiya lays still, fast asleep.  
  
“Oh, you don’t even have to tell me that, Sakurai, because I fully intend to know what really happened,” Ohno says, turning around and meeting Jun’s eyes again. Jun honestly wonders why he’s still here, and why Ohno hasn’t yet ask him to leave.  
  
“He said you were the reason he’s doing what he does, but you’re saying you have no idea what he’s talking about, so it’s either Nino’s lying or you are.” Ohno adds, and Jun watches the way the Sentinel Leader’s mouth curl dangerously at the edges.  
  
“No, this isn’t over yet,” Ohno follows; Jun itches to know who he is talking to, but knows it’s not his place to ask. He remains standing where he is, jaw clenched and his fist glued permanently to his sides.  
  
Ohno turns, gesturing with his fingers, beckoning Jun over. “Rest assured, Sakurai, that I’m going to find out what your _sister_ means,” Ohno says; Jun frowns at this.  
  
“And I urge you to brace yourself, because if I find out you, or any one of those bloodsuckers close to you, did something – unconscious or not – to Nino and his family, you can kiss your immortal ass goodbye.” Ohno says, and hangs up.  
  
Jun is already there, close enough to watch the way Ohno has stooped down to touch Ninomiya’s cheek, chaste, his touch fleeting, before he stands up again to face Jun.  
  
“Jun-kun, I need your help,” Ohno tells him; Jun nods, knowing there’s nothing he could do but obey. “I need you to keep an eye on Nino, okay, make sure he’s safe, the same thing you’ve been doing up until now.”  
  
Jun nods and bows his head. “I’ll do my best, Ohno-san.”  
  
“Thank you, Jun-kun,” Ohno says, reaching over to squeeze Jun’s shoulder in quiet thanks. Jun barely manages another word before he realized Ohno is no longer there.  
  
He shakes his head and finally allows himself to remember the gorgeous bloodsucker Nino almost murdered earlier, feeling marginally disgusted with himself knowing how much he wanted to nail the vampire against any available surface there is when he knows he shouldn’t.  
  
God, he’s _fucked_.  
  
+  
  
Sho honestly doesn’t get it.  
  
“You did what?” Aiba asks, sounding and looking confused. Sho can totally relate.  
  
“I have no idea,” Sho says, blinking. “what he’s talking about.”  
  
“Sho-chan, I’m sure Ohno-san meant you did something bad to Kazuko, or to her family,” Aiba says, frowning. “That’s exactly what he meant, I think.”  
  
Sho feels like his eyes are about to pop out from their sockets, he’s so confused. He did what? He has no idea what that Sentinel fucker was talking about, seriously. It sure seems like the Sentinel is saying he did something to hurt his sister, her family in this life, which is not possible because, how could he? He doesn’t even know his sister had come back to life this time around if Ohno hadn’t told him, so why in hell is that bastard accusing him of something he’s certain he didn’t do?  
  
“I –“ he says, or at least starts to, until the door bursts open and immediately cuts him off.  
  
Aiba is immediately standing in front of him to guard him, as they both watch the Sentinel Leader appears from behind the broken door, his majestic wings flexing behind him as sounds of hurried footsteps follow him.  
  
“Ohno, what the fuck are you doing here?” Sho snarls, baring his teeth at the Sentinel Leader who seems unaffectedly calm as he struts the way inside.  
  
Ohno waves his hand at the same time a bunch of vampires come at him from behind.


	20. Truce

Ohno gracefully struts inside the Vampire Leader’s office calmly, seemingly unaffected with the fact that there’s an army of vampires crowding him from behind. His gaze catches Sakurai’s right-hand – Aiba – mouthing something at him before three vampires attack him from behind.  
  
They don’t even make it anywhere near him. He’s slicing them with his wings – the tips like bladed steel – before they could even blink, and doing the same to the next four attacking him from above.  
  
Aiba remains standing in front of his Leader, but Ohno is certain it’s just for show. He seems rather entertained with the fact that Ohno is here, despite the fact that Ohno is currently annihilating their men like common flies.  
  
There are probably only a handful of vampires left before Sakurai remembers he could talk and stops his men from attacking before Ohno is able to kill the rest, too.  
  
Ohno smirks, wills his wings to disappear and sits himself down on one of the chairs there without bothering looking behind him, certain that the rest who lives aren’t that stupid to try and hit him when he’s not looking.  
  
“Sakurai Sho, it’s been a while, isn’t it? How have you been?” he asks, seriously not meaning it.  
  
He’s here because of something else, and the last thing he wants to hear is how Sakurai is presently living his life when they both know he doesn’t care. The only thing Ohno is concerned about is keeping the vampires in check, make sure they’re not out to kill every single human being alive, along with the other angels.  
  
It’s a hard job, but Ohno is created for this and only this.  
  
Well, and Kazuko – his first and only love, and Sakurai’s twin sister – the woman, presently reincarnated as a man, who had captured his heart the moment he set eyes on her.  
  
Then his eyes narrow, remembers tracing Nino’s memories earlier while he sleeps, and Ohno feels the almost overwhelming rush of anger bubbling inside his chest as he zeroes his gaze in at Sakurai.  
  
“You’re completely shameless, aren’t you?” Sakurai snarls, stepping forward and pushing Aiba aside.  
  
“Coming in here unannounced, killing my men –“  
  
“Your bloodsuckers attacked me first, Sakurai!” he counters, gritting his teeth.  
  
Sakurai hisses, baring his fangs, probably thinks it looks good on him but Ohno thinks otherwise. He ignores the jibe and waits for the Vampire Leader to settle on his ‘throne’, watching him round the way there as his right-hand dutifully follows him.  
  
“Fine, so what brings you here?” Sakurai asks, after a long beat. He looks visibly shaken, probably because of shock of seeing Ohno – the Sentinel Leader who’s most capable of sending his sorry ass over to hell – strutting his way inside his office like a common customer.  
  
“It’s not because of my sister, isn’t it?” Sakurai asks, lips curling, then answering his own questions afterwards. “Of course, it is, why did I even bother?”  
  
Ohno shrugs; the Vampire Leader can say everything he wants to say, he doesn’t care so long as Ohno gets the answers he need.  
  
“Stop with the sister thing, you know she’s a man this time around,” he says, then, “and yes, I’m here because of him.” He adds.  
  
Sakurai squares his shoulders and leans back on his chair.  
  
“He claims I killed his family?”  
  
The fresh wave of anger stuns even Ohno himself but he tries to swallow it down.  
  
“He wasn’t just claiming it, Sakurai,” he says, through tightly gritted teeth. “because it’s true. I saw it happened. I saw you sucked his mother dry as he watched.”  
  
Sakurai frowns. “Are you certain it was me?”  
  
Ohno frowns. “Are you saying I’m lying?” he counters, unperturbed. “I traced his memories, and I saw you. With two other bloodsuckers. You attacked Nino and his mother in broad daylight – and we both know that only fallen angels could do that so I’m sure it was you.”  
  
“When did it happen?” Sakurai asks, “How old was he when it happened?”  
  
Ohno blinks. “He’s about five, six years old, I’m not so sure. But –“  
  
“His memory might be blurry if it happened a long time ago,” Sakurai says, standing up from his chair. Ohno frowns at him. “A child’s memory could be altered if one knows what he’s doing. We both know it’s possible.” Sakurai adds.  
  
Then, “Trace mine.” He says.  
  
“What?”  
  
Sakurai sits on the opposite chair, lips pursed and his eyes dark with determination.  
  
“Trace my memories, like you did my sister and if you find one that is the same as hers, the one which I attacked her and her mother, then my life is yours. You can kill me, as you’d have done ages ago. And I won’t stop you.”  
  
Aiba steps forward and speaks for the first time. “But Sho-chan –“ he says, but Sakurai stops him with a quick wave of his hand.  
  
“Leave us, Aiba-chan,”  
  
“Sakurai Sho, you cannot do this –“  
  
“I said leave!” Sakurai growls at the same time he beckons Ohno over. Ohno stands up, exchange glances with Aiba who has quickly bowed his head in answer. Then he’s out the door, leaving him and Sakurai alone.  
  
“If this is your idea of starting a war, Sakurai, you know I’m telling you –“  
  
“It isn’t,” Sakurai quickly cuts in, closing his eyes. “This is me showing you that my sister’s memory of me slaughtering his family is impossible.”  
  
“How so?”  
  
Sakurai opens his eyes and looks straight into Ohno’s own. “I’m the Leader of the Vampire nation, Sentinel,” Sakurai says, his voice sounded soft, sure. “And you could either believe it or not, but I don’t hunt for my meals. They willingly come to me.”  
  
Ohno raises his brows and thinks of telling Sakurai off for being so fucking conceited but bites his tongue before he could even say it. Instead, he jabs Sakurai’s temple not-so-gently, prompting Sakurai to close his eyes as he does the same, tracing the vampire’s memories one by one the same way he did to Nino’s.  
  
++  
  
“D-Don’t, please –“ Jun grunts from where he’s lying face-first on the floor, watching as the room is slowly being filled with lycans.  
  
He could barely see through the blood oozing from his temple and blurring his vision, groaning painfully as his arms – both broken – are being twist hard behind him.  
  
He watches, helpless, as three lycans grab Ninomiya from the couch and pull him up, mumbling something as they do so. He growls and does his best to shift despite his captors but his injuries kept him from doing so.  
  
“Don’t even think about it, Matsumoto,” one of the lycans holding him down says – one of the young ones, Kotaku? – as Jun growls wordlessly in response.  
  
“You know it’s only going to make matters worse for you if you do that,” another one says – Jun can’t exactly pinpoint who that voice belongs to when he’s also trying not to scream loudly, biting the inside of his cheeks as he watches the way lycans manhandled Ninomiya up on his feet.  
  
Ninomiya trashes, cursing loudly and calling Jun’s name. Jun squeezes his eyes shut and thinks about the irony of having been appointed as Ninomiya’s babysitter, when this is the second (or is it third?) time Ninomiya’s life is endangered while his under Jun’s care.  
  
“Don’t hurt him!” Ninomiya shouts, “It’s me you’re after, right? Then just let him go!” Ninomiya follows, his words ending with a scream when one lycan slaps him hard.  
  
Jun growls. Goddamn these traitors, Jun is surely going to kill them all.  
  
“Nagase, you bastard, if Ohno doesn’t kill you for hurting that man, I’ll gladly do it!”  
  
Nagase laughs. “Look at you still acting all high and mighty,” Nagase says, “You’re just a Sentinel dog, Matsumoto! You lived as one and you will die as one, too, because you didn’t listen. I’ve told you to help us but what did you do? You ignored our pleas for freedom and instead worked diligently under those winged hypocrites like one of their own guard dogs! But we’re done being their slaves, Matsumoto,” Nagase says, tugging Ninomiya to him by his neck.  
  
Jun feels his heart twist in his chest, more painful than his broken arms and legs combined.  
  
“And this man is our ticket out,” Nagase follows, twisting Ninomiya’s arm behind him hard just as something hard lands at the back of Jun’s head, and Ninomiya’s pained face the last thing Jun remembers before everything around him goes black.


	21. Pawned

“Do you believe me now?” Sakurai asks. Ohno doesn’t answer, frowning in confusion as he steps back to sit.

He meets Sakurai’s gaze and frowns some more. Is it really possible to alter one’s memories, as Sakurai had said? Ohno couldn’t be sure, but the Vampire Leader’s memories don’t lie.

Ohno went through each one as if they were his own, and not even one was similar to the ones Nino has, the one which looked exactly like Sakurai sucking Nino’s mother dry.

“You’re not – you didn’t purposely erase it, did you?” he says, still doubtful. Sakurai gives him this look that makes him look so astonishingly handsome, his confidence radiating off of him in waves.

“I’m a  _ vampire _ , Sentinel, not a fucking magician,” Sakurai says, his voice tinged with amusement. “Surely, you’ll know if something has been done out of the ordinary because you still have your capabilities,” Sakurai follows, then grins, “I don’t.”

“Well, can you blame me?” he asks, shrugging. “You assholes are fucking good at evolving. How would I know if altering one’s memories are one of the things you –“ he says, only to be cut off midway by his phone vibrating in his pocket.

He waves a hand at Sakurai and fishes his phone out, sees Matsumoto’s name on the screen and frowns. He slides his thumb over the screen to accept the call and slaps the phone against his left ear.

“Jun-kun, I’ll ca –  _ hello _ ?” he answers, frowning hard. Matsumoto sounded weird – like he’s having trouble speaking at all, and Ohno’s heart starts beating crazily fast inside his ribcage in answer.

Something is wrong, he thinks as he listens carefully to every word Matsumoto is uttering from the other end.

_ Na-gase…he…oth-er ly-cans…took Nino… _

“Fuck!” Ohno swears, his wings materializing behind him without prompting. Sakurai barely gets a word out, probably about to ask him what’s going on but Ohno is already out of the door at record-breaking speed to go back home.

+

Nino thinks there’s a good enough reason why one bad thing after another keeps happening to him, though he can’t think of one. He’s restrained into a chair and he can’t see a damn thing, can only hear those bastards talking in the background. It’s obvious that they’re waiting for someone else, but Nino can’t exactly pinpoint who they’re talking about.

“You sure he’s coming?” a familiar voice asks; Nino knows it’s the big lycan, Nagase.

Another voice answers. This one’s rather unfamiliar, though Nino’s certain he’s heard that voice before. He just can’t place where he heard it from and who.

“He agreed to,” the voice says, “and anyway, it doesn’t really matter whether he comes or not. I can always summon another bloodsucker to do the job. I’m sure it won’t even take much convincing. Free meals are always welcomed, don’t you agree?” he says.

Everyone laughs in response, while Nino stills.

Bloodsucker? Free meal?

Him?

Oh, crap.

“And afterwards?” Nagase asks, like he’s waiting for something else, something more from the person he’s talking to. Nino keeps his ear open despite the tremors rocking his very soul.

“We deliver him to the enemy,” the unfamiliar voice answers, making Nino’s blood run cold. “Like we planned.”

“Yeah,” Nagase’s overjoyed voice booms, “That’s what I’ve been waiting for you to say, Yokoyama-san.”

Nino blinks through his blindfold, gritting his teeth.

Yokoyama, you fucking traitor.

+

Ohno found Matsumoto lying face-mashed into the floor and swimming in the pool of his own blood. He’s surprised Matsumoto even managed to make his arm work to find his phone and call Ohno despite the fact that it looks seriously broken, grunting painfully when Ohno effortlessly picked him up from the floor and onto the couch where he left Nino sleeping peacefully earlier.

The house looks like it had been ransacked by wild animals – and it must have been, judging with the mess the lycans left behind. Ohno’s heart hasn’t stopped trying to beat its way out of his chest, worried over Nino, but seeing Matsumoto groaning on the floor prompted him into action, too.

Somehow, the absence of lycans and Sentinels supposedly serving as guards around the house doesn’t even surprise him.

“Matsumoto-kun, I’m going to have to set your bones back and it’s going to fucking hurt, so bear with me, okay?” he says, already thinking of the ways how he could help heal Matsumoto’s wounds faster, something that no human medicine won’t be able to fix.

Vampire blood might help, but Ohno is certain that Matsumoto will probably end up hating him forever if he as much as tries feeding Matsumoto with it to help him heal faster.

Matsumoto grunts into the couch and Ohno takes it as a Yes.

He reaches down and pulls Matsumoto’s arms back, hearing his bones crack at the same time Matsumoto howls loudly like a wounded animal in answer.

+

“I-It was N-Nagase,” Matsumoto says, wincing; Ohno watches the lycan closely, trying his very best to ignore his injuries in favor of telling Ohno what he needs to know.

Ohno stands and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Did you know about this?” he asks, knowing he won’t be surprised if Matsumoto says yes.

Matsumoto doesn’t answer but he averts his gaze and that is answer enough.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, knowing that his voice is devoid with emotion but with the howling wind outside, it’s not that hard to tell that his mood just turned marginally sour.

“I have been trying to talk them out of it,” Matsumoto answers, like it pains him to realize that the people he trusted his life with, the people he considered as family betrayed him as if he meant nothing.

Ohno bristles. “Obviously, it didn’t work,” he seethes, “and now Nino is in danger because of it.”

Matsumoto keeps his gaze elsewhere. “I’m – I’m really sorry, Ohno-san, I – I didn’t know it would come to this. If I had known, I wouldn’t have – I mean –“

Ohno waves his hand. “I know, and I don’t blame you, not really. I just. We could have prevented this if you’d been more honest.” He says.

Matsumoto nods.

“Do you have any idea where they could have taken him?” he asks.

Matsumoto shakes his head. “I don’t even know why they took Ninomiya-san,” Matsumoto says, sounding and looking confused. “Nagase said something about him being their ticket out, but that’s it. I mean, we all know Ninomiya-san means a lot to you, but that doesn’t mean –“

“It does,” Ohno cuts in, his eyes full of meaning. “Anyone who has eyes knows they could use Nino to lure me out, that they could use him against me, make me do what they want.” And he will, he thinks.

“But Ohno-san –“

His phone rings. Ohno takes it and doesn’t even bother checking who is calling, already thinking it’s Nagase, or anyone Nagase asked to place the call.

He’s wrong.

“Hello –“

_ Ohno, it’s me. _

“Sakurai Sho, I don’t have time to talk right now –“

_ No, you need to talk to me or I won’t be held responsible for deciding about my sister’s – Ninomiya’s fate right here, right now. _

Ohno blinks. “What the fuck do you mean by that? Why are you –“

_ Ninomiya is here and he’s dying, Ohno, for fuck’s sake! Someone brought him here, and don’t ask me who because I don’t know! All I know is that my sis – my brother is dying and you need to fucking come here. Now! _


	22. Turned

When the vampire opened the door to let them in, Jun almost tripped on his feet realizing who it is.  
  
It’s the one Nino almost killed, and the same one Jun had imagined nailing against the vampire’s own car with abandon.  
  
Surprise is definitely an understatement.  
  
Their eyes meet briefly, before the vampire takes his gaze away in favor of shifting it entirely to Ohno’s direction. The animal in Jun roars – in frustration or something else, Jun’s not sure – and holding the animal in place before he forgets himself.  
  
“Where is he?” Ohno cuts through Jun’s mental conflict, at the same time the vampire jerks his thumb inside and hurries off.  
  
He and Ohno scurries after him, Jun barely remembering closing the door behind him, growling at the smell of vampires surrounding him.  
  
+  
  
His eyes settle on Ninomiya’s pale and unmoving form on the couch and curses inwardly.  
  
“He’s got vampire blood on him,” says the bloodsucker that let him and Ohno in. He looks upset, if not worried, confusing Jun entirely as he watches Ohno settle on the floor next to the couch where Nino is lying very still, fingers brushing Nino’s hair from his temple.  
  
“And whoever did this to him knew what they were doing, leaving him with just enough blood to keep him alive and undergo the change if he wants it.” Adds the vampire.  
  
Jun scowls, and takes his gaze away from the vampire despite the difficulty. He honestly shouldn’t be thinking of carnal thoughts right now, not when Ninomiya is currently fighting for his life, or at least what is left of it.  
  
He grits his teeth and watches as Ohno raises his head to spare the vampire a quick glance.  
  
“We’ll get to it when he wakes up,” Ohno says, “but first, tell me, who brought Nino here?” Ohno asks, taking the words completely out of Jun’s mouth. That’s the very first question Jun wanted to ask but didn’t know whether it was proper to do it himself.  
  
The vampire shakes his head and purses his perfect lips tightly. Jun hisses quietly at the sight of it, feeling his groin tightening in response imagining shoving his dick in between those plump lips.  
  
 _Shit._  
  
“The vampires guarding the doors said they didn’t see shit, but Aiba-chan is certain they’re lying. He already killed two, and the last remaining guard – after much, um, coaxing – finally mentioned something about a winged creature bringing my _sis_ – him here.”  
  
Jun blinks. Sis?  
  
What the fuck is going on here, really?  
  
“An angel?” Ohno asks.  
  
“I can’t say for certain, but, it’s not impossible, is it?” the vampire answers.  
  
Ohno straightens from where he’s kneeling on the floor, turning behind him searching for Jun. Jun steps forward on cue.  
  
“You hear that, Jun-kun?” Ohno says. “Now it seems like your lycans are not alone in this.”  
  
Jun bows his head and keeps his gaze trained on the floor.  
  
“What do you want me to do, Ohno-san?” he asks.  
  
Ohno briefly pause. “I want answers and I want them as soon as you get them. Who’s working against me and why. Can you do it, Jun-kun?”  
  
God, does he even need to ask? “Of course.” He says, and steps back, footsteps halting into a stop when he realizes that the vampire is no longer standing near the couch but is actually standing opposite him.  
  
His scent – a combination of sweet-spicy, kind of musky mixture of lavender and earth – has Jun reeling back suddenly, in an attempt to keep himself from reaching over and devouring the vampire mouth’s right then and there.  
  
It’s not an easy feat but he manages, biting his tongue to keep himself in check as he watches the vampire’s lips move as he speaks.  
  
“Count me in,” the vampire says, just as Ninomiya stirs.  
  
Jun bites the inside of his cheeks and watches the vampire hauls his perfect ass away, cursing to himself.  
  
 _Double shit._  
  
+  
  
“Nino, it’s me, can you hear me?”  
  
Nino wonders if he’s hallucinating, or dying, or both; it is difficult to tell the difference when he could barely breath through the lump that has permanently lodged itself in his throat ever since he opened his eyes.  
  
Plus the fact that he could hear Ohno’s voice – soft and faint that Nino wonders whether he’s just imagining it, until a familiarly calloused hand cups his cheek, tilting his face up until Ohno’s worried face comes into full view.  
  
“O-Oh-chan?”  
  
“Yes, it’s me. Oh god, Kazu,” Ohno says; Nino tries to smile through the almost suffocating pounding of his heart inside his chest, but couldn’t even manage it. Instead, he finds himself coughing hard if only to allow the air back into his lungs, barely aware that he’s spitting blood at the same time.  
  
“I-I’m…o-okay,” he lies through his teeth, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to pretend he’s fine when he could barely breath properly without wheezing.  
  
He doesn’t want to think about it but somehow, he knows exactly what is happening to him.  
  
It didn’t matter that they made sure he was asleep through it, because Nino can feel it down to his bones what had been done to him. He’s not that naïve. If the throbbing pain he has on his neck isn’t evidence enough, then the almost undefinable thirst clawing at his throat surely is.  
  
“He’s not!” another voice joins the conversation, and Nino badly wishes he could see who is talking. But it’s hard. He’s shaking before he could stop himself, from his head down to his toes.  
  
“Don’t yell, I know he’s not okay, I can see it, I’m not blind!” Ohno screams in return, and Nino feels Ohno’s fingers stroking his face.  
  
“Nino, Nino, look at me, hey,” Ohno turns back to him, coaxes him to open his eyes and Nino feels the angel shifting to put his weight on him, probably to stop him from shaking.  
  
He does, but just barely.  
  
“He needs to feed,” says the unfamiliar voice again, making Nino growl despite himself. Damn it if he will, he’d rather die than sink his teeth into someone else’s neck to satisfy his hunger. He won’t do it. Never.  
  
“Or else, _she’ll_ \- he’ll die. Again. And maybe this time, for good.”  
  
Nino wonders what that guy means but he’s too busy shaking his head to even bother listening, groaning when Ohno hushes him with a chaste kiss planted squarely into his lips.  
  
“He needs it now, Ohno!” the guy hollers yet again, and Nino wishes he has the strength to stand up on his own feet so he could punch the guy in the face. “I swear I tried shoving my wrist into his mouth earlier but he wouldn’t drink from me, and by the looks of it –“  
  
“Shut up, Sakurai, you’re not helping,” Ohno grunts, cutting the noisy guy – Sakurai - off; Nino would certainly applaud the angel’s capability to stay calm (he does sound like it) despite the very unusual circumstance they’re facing, but obviously, he couldn’t. He feels the angel shift around till he’s no longer sitting on Nino, and the loss of weight holding him down makes Nino shudder despite himself.  
  
Ohno pulls him up and cradles his head carefully onto the angel’s lap at the same time he is assaulted with the arousing smell of fresh blood and effectively sweeping his senses into frantic overdrive.  
  
“Drink, Nino,” Ohno says, more like begs, before something wet and warm touches Nino’s lips. His stomach growls as if on cue, opens his mouth, and closes it again at the last second.  
  
“N-No,” he grits through tightly gritted teeth, turning his head away. He knows he’s being stubborn, and refusing to drink blood means he’s signing his own death sentence but what else can he do? He’s not going to end up like those bloodsuckers he hates so much, and not even Ohno offering his own blood for Nino to drink will change Nino’s mind about it.  
  
“You’re going to die if you don’t feed, Nino,” Ohno says, and somehow, Nino detects a change in the tone of his voice, something that never happened before.  
  
Outside, the wind is howling, obviously mirroring the Sentinel Angel’s emotions.  
  
“I’d…rather die…than end up like those c-creature I hate so m-much…”  
  
Ohno’s lips finds his, kissing him hard like he’s trying to tell Nino otherwise. Nino wonders if he is.  
  
“You won’t,” Ohno whispers, and it sounded like a promise, a plea. “I promise you won’t,” Ohno adds and offers his bleeding wrist again.  
  
“Because you’ll be drinking the blood of an angel, Nino,” Ohno follows as he caresses Nino’s face, soft and assuring. “My blood and only my blood, and nobody else’s. I promise.” Ohno says.  
  
Nino forces his eyes open and sees the genuine promise in Ohno’s own.  
  
“I-I w-won’t…kill…innocent p-people?”  
  
Ohno shakes his head and Nino sees the shadow of something else pass through Ohno’s eyes.  
  
“No,” Ohno promises, “You won’t. You won’t, I promise.” Ohno says, pushing his hand into Nino’s lips again. “Now drink. I need you to take all the blood you need from me for you to live. Can you do that for me, Nino?”  
  
Nino blinks the moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes, Ohno’s lips descending to kiss his temple the last thing he sees before he shuts his eyes close and parts his mouth, growling at the wonderful taste of the angel’s blood on his tongue.


	23. Copper lips

_She came to him that night, almost lifeless, and her ivory wings missing from her back._  
  
 _There are puncture marks on her pale neck, her blood almost drained out of her body; she’s trembling something bad, her eyes bloodshot and unfocused._  
  
 _“W-Who did this to you?!” he cries, cradling her shaking body in his arms. His anger is making his wings flutter agitatedly behind him, his eyes darting between her quivering lips and the darkened path where she passed through to get to him._  
  
 _“S-Satoshi –“_  
  
 _He cups her cheek ever so gently, rocking her tenderly in his arms. He knows he shouldn’t but she’s left him with no other choice._  
  
 _The first tendrils of her memories rock him to the core, and Ohno finds himself weeping in anguish. He could vividly recall the way her brother had severed the wings from her back, crying as he almost sucked Kazu dry with all the intention of changing her into a bloodsucking demon like him._  
  
 _Ohno is going to fucking kill him._  
  
 _“N-No, you won’t,” she tells him, her small hand somehow finds his cheek, stroking, begging. Ohno shuts his eyes close and growls through the almost blinding rage rocking his very foundation, the urge to obliterate every single vampire that walks the earth is so strong he barely able to stop himself._  
  
 _He looks down at her, barely seeing her through the tears blurring his vision. She’s trembling in his arms and Ohno knows it’s happening._  
  
 _“S-Satoshi, I –“_  
  
 _He shakes his head and wills a dagger into his hand as he cradles her close._  
  
 _“I’m sorry,” he cries, his heart breaking in two for her, for him, and for what he’s about to do. “I’m sorry, Kazu, but I can’t. I can’t let you.” he says, leaning down to kiss her bloody lips, at the same time he shoves the dagger straight into her softly beating heart._  
  
+  
  
“He’s not going to like this when he wakes up,” says the hunky lycan standing by the door, his voice deep and his expression grim. He is also watching the scene before him with something akin to fierce protectiveness and anguish that Sho can’t stand to look.  
  
“I don’t suppose he would,” retorts the Sentinel Angel curtly, who simply stays still holding the mortal’s head firmly in place, his eyes never leaving the man’s face.  
  
In the corner, Sho is doing the same. He can’t believe that after so long, his sister’s soul came back, housed inside Ninomiya’s body alongside his own, of all the fucking people. It’s astonishing, as much as everything else about his sister coming back to life every time to be with the Sentinel Angel and Sho’s given up trying to understand it all, but it doesn’t mean he has forgiven them.  
  
He can’t; not yet, at least.  
  
“But it’s my call to make, not his.” Ohno follows, brushing Ninomiya’s cheek with the gentlest of touches, despite the fact that Ninomiya is growling fiercely against Ohno’s wrist, his throat working hard as he swallows.  
  
Somehow, the sight brings Sho back to the time when he himself attempted to change his sister, to be like them, around the same time the Sentinel Angel decided to end her life before she completed the change. It was painful to watch it then, made even worse when Sho found out her soul came back the next time only so she could be with Ohno again.  
  
Back then, Sho is certain that Ohno’s reason for ending his sister’s life was so she wouldn’t end up like him, that she wouldn’t end up like the rest of them. Ohno’s particularly protective of his sister’s soul, after all – the only thing bounding her to him and to Sho as well. But now, he can’t help but wonder what had changed and what had brought that change on.  
  
Looking at Ohno now, Sho’s convinced this is the case; the way Ohno is voluntarily feeding Ninomiya his blood so he won’t die, that he’s willingly allowing Ninomiya to complete the change the way he’d never done before. It’s obvious that somewhere in between, something unexpected had happened, and it made Ohno decide on something he hadn’t considered before . It’s enough to beat the crap out of Sho, but he tries not to think about it too much, knowing – wishing – that he’d be the one to get the most out of this decision.  
  
But then again, he can’t help but feel like something is off.  
  
He watches as Ninomiya groans, pushing Ohno’s wrist away with an obviously pained whimper. and Sho is once again reminded of the incident the day before, when he was greeted by two consecutive daggers to the face, in broad daylight, courtesy of Ninomiya himself.  
  
And somehow, the fact has been bugging Sho more than he lets on.  
  
He frowns. He knows for sure that there’s this certain pattern with regards to his sister’s past incarnations that doesn’t quite fit to the one she’s living now. She always came back drawn to Ohno first, then to him, the memories of her past lives following shortly after.  
  
Somehow, Sho is convinced that her life this time around had been altered, by whom or how, Sho does not know.  
  
His gaze goes past Ninomiya groaning on the couch to the mouth-watering hunk lurking at the doorway, hoping quietly for answers.  
  
  
+  
  
It’s all happening too fast.  
  
He’s burning up from the inside and it doesn’t help that the unexplainable thirst is slowly being replaced with something even more pronounced, something Nino knows he has to get used to from here on.  
  
He’s changing.  
  
Nino gathers as much, shutting his eyes close as he swallows what he could. He could feel the Sentinel Angel’s other hand holding his head firmly in place, urging him along.  
  
“Take everything you need,” Ohno keeps saying, Nino growling softly in answer.  
  
Somewhere at the back of his mind, a feminine voice is laughing, her voice soft and familiar – taunting Nino yet again.  
  
 _He’s mine_ …she says; _he’s always been mine, Ninomiya. You won’t ever take him from me just because you happened to be housing my soul this time around. No one ever did. Not you, and not everyone who came before you_ …she adds.  
  
 _You’re just a shell,_ she follows, laughing sensually, her voice sounded so near that Nino is almost certain the words were spoken directly into his ear.  
  
 _Satoshi won’t even bother throwing you a glance if it wasn’t for me. Keep that in mind._  
  
Nino shakes his head, feeling one-part riled and equal-parts confused. He honestly doesn’t get what she’s going on about, but a part of him is certain that’s not entirely the case.  
  
 _I could help you remember, if you want_ …she sing songs. Nino wants to tell her off, shove her away, but he can’t.  
  
The memories come rushing back as if on cue, and Nino groans, wishing for a quicker death than the one he knows he’s about to face, because of her.  
  
She made him watch each one as if she has all the right, laughing hysterically as she does so.  
  
When he met Ohno at the airport, when Ohno proposed to take him home, all of those weren’t entirely accidental, Nino supposes, not to mention the fact that Ohno had kept mentioning something about waiting for Nino for so long. The knowing stares, the almost familiar touches – Nino knows they mean something more, something he couldn’t quite understand then.  
  
Somehow, they all sort-of make sense, now.  
  
Somehow, Nino wishes he hadn't made the connection or that he is wrong.  
  
Somehow, Nino knows.  
  
Everything Ohno did, from then up to this point, is because of her, and not him.


	24. Trapped

Jun knows it's inevitable. It's been a long time coming, after all, and he's certain that even the Sentinels have been anticipating this revolt in years.

Hell, Jun's heard his people talk about freedom, about taking down the few remaining Sentinel Angels if they have to - the Sentinel's dwindling numbers is one great disadvantage that could work on the lycan's favor, and Jun knows the plan could be made possible if they really put their minds into it - and even going as far as outright asking Jun to lead them, but Jun had refused time and time again.

For one, despite what the others might think, there's no way he could lead the lycans out of the Sentinel Angel's lair without compromising everyone. There'd be bloodshed, Jun is certain of it, one that Jun wishes he doesn't have to watch in exchange for the so-called freedom the others have been mulling over forever.

Truthfully, he doesn't only think it's stupid, but agreeing to the idea itself is like voluntarily signing their own death sentence, with his own two hands. Jun had voiced out his dislike over the idea, not even once, had even told anyone who was kind enough to listen that what they wanted was plain suicide, but after Ninomiya-san's abduction, it's clear that his pleas had simply fell on deaf ears.

"You're not welcome here, Matsumoto," someone answers from behind the wooden door when Jun punches his fist against it. "Go away. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying." the voice follows.

After that, there's a chorus of laughter filling the supposed silence, and Jun scowls, his anger bubbles hot and fierce up his throat as he takes one step back to reassess the situation. On one hand, he supposes turning around now will save him the trouble of facing his (former) friends in a fight, but his pride - not to mention his promise to Ohno-san himself - won't let him do it.

He backs up a step, still aware of the ruckus happening from behind the wooden door. Some of the voices sounded awfully familiar, and Jun wonders if he'd somehow trusted the wrong people all along.

He'd worked side by side with most of them and Jun wonders why he didn't notice them planning things behind his back. Or maybe he did; he just didn't want to believe it then.

He wheezes, trying to rein his anger in and spectacularly failing. Especially when the voice earlier speaks again, telling him to leave like he's someone's unwanted pet.

He could feel the way his anger ripples across his skin, from the back of his neck to his arms, baring his teeth and growling, and lifting one of his legs up, posing to kick the door open.

He grins felinely to himself, knowing whoever's behind the door won't know he's coming as he delivers the kick without warning.

++

Ohno doesn't believe in chances, but ever since he met Nino, there are a lot of those that made him want to question his beliefs, his existence, sometimes. He thought he'd experienced it all - having met Kazuko made him experience everything a Sentinel shouldn't - and he thought they'd been enough.

At some point, he knows he has to answer to the Creator - and it won't be long before he does. Everything he did, every single decision he made up to this point sure is going to come back to him, and he wants to think he's ready for it.

Until Nino came along.

Somehow, here's that one person he never saw coming. He'd turned Ohno's life around the way Kazuko never did, had made Ohno feel things he hadn't before, and every single one of them is driving Ohno crazy.

It's never like this with Kazuko. With her, it's always been the same thing, regardless of her incarnation. She'd find Ohno, and once her soul recognized him, the seduction began. From there, it's an almost never-ending cycle of lust and regret, and Ohno no longer remembers how one started and the last ended.

Lust, because it's like meeting her the first time every single time they meet thereafter. Every nerve ending in his body recognizes her, wants her, and the need to have her blindsides his desire to be in control, which Kazuko had exploited over and over again.

Regret, because Ohno almost always has to be the one to take Kazuko's life, just to preserve her soul.

Somehow, with Nino, and despite knowing Nino houses the soul of the woman he desires since time immemorial, he can't do it.

Somehow, Ohno is convinced everything's changed, because of Nino.

++

He tries not to let the sound of her laughter get to him, but it's hard. His own memories serve as a painful reminder that meeting Ohno wasn't completely accidental, and that there are obvious enough reasons why he was drawn to Ohno the first time he laid eyes on the other man.

It was all her.

Somehow, all those other stuff that he couldn't understand, finally made sense; his inhuman strength and abilities, those are because he'd been housing another soul inside his body ever since he was born.

And not a normal soul at that, it seems.

Judging with how intimately possessive she is over Ohno, it doesn't take a genius to know that there's something there, something more, a history that couldn't be erased or replaced just because of Nino.

"Come back to me," someone says. Nino's certain it's not her this time, but someone else. "Nino, please, I need you. Don't give up on me now," the voice follows, and somehow, it makes Nino ache even more.

It's Ohno's voice, soft and coaxing, like he means it, like he always does. Then follows the Angel's touch, cold against Nino's face, familiarly soft and tender, and Nino feels like weeping.

"Open your eyes, Nino," says Ohno, just as she comes back, laughing loudly into Nino's face.

_ Die _ , Ninomiya Kazunari, she commands, like she has all the right to do so.  _ And when you do, I'll take your place, and this time, I'll be with him forever. My immortal soul and your immortal body, the way it should be _ .

"Nino, please, please, I - I love you. I can't lose you, not now, please -" begs Ohno, loud enough to make her pause. Nino watches her expression change, the way her eyes turn dark with anguish despite her mouth laughing still.

Nino will probably hate himself in the end for this, will probably regret doing something he knows will not benefit him otherwise but for now, he knows that dying isn't an option he'd gladly take, no matter how painful it is to wake up, to live, knowing that the man he fell in love with has been in love with someone else, and has been living his life waiting for that said person to come back.

"You're wrong if you think you'll have him all to yourself, even if I die here," he says, laughing softly. She visibly stiffens and Nino decides this is his chance to go back and claim what is rightfully his.

His life, and his body.

"You heard him, right?" Nino adds, watches her dance away from him. Her long, dark brown hair sways with her, her hands on her hips. "He was calling my name, not yours, saying he needs me, loves me -"

_ Stop _ , she grits, jerking away with a hand covering her face. She looks enraged, and sounded like it, too.

Nino grins. It's a gamble, but Nino will bet his life on it that playing on her selfishness is what would make him win. She seems like someone who is used to having all the attention to her, and knowing that someone - a mere mortal, nonetheless - has captured her man's attention the way it never did before, would be like a direct stab to her pride, a fact that she wouldn't be able to stand.

"So, let's say I allow you to have this body, live my life as if it's always been yours, are you sure you're going to be happy knowing that he constantly thinks of me? That he craves my touch, my body, just like he could be craving yours? Can you stand it? Can you?"

There's a moment of quiet stillness, where Nino finds himself staring at her, at Ohno's beloved woman, and smiles bitterly to himself. She's so beautiful; no wonder Ohno loved her - loves her still, from the very first time he saw her.

His heart aches, but the pain is fiercer this time.

It comes with the fact that he's sure there won't be any happy ending for any of them, not even when it's the only thing he wishes for Ohno. He can't just give his life up for her, even if it means making Ohno happy, because he's selfish that way, too.

"You can't, can you?" he follows, laughing tightly. He can feel her slowly slipping away, can see her mouth curves beautifully as she smiles.

_ And you do? _ , she asks, as if she knows it's the same thing for them both. Nino nods his head and bites his tongue.

_ I don't know, _ he wants to say, but settles with, "Of course. I'm not selfish like you," he lies through his teeth.

She grins and Nino watches her flip her long hair away, lets him see the way her lips curl confidently as she pushes her way to him.

They're nose to nose when she stops, and Nino can only wait, with bated breath, as she presses her soft, cold lips against his cheek.

_ You're a good liar, Ninomiya Kazunari, _ she says, and pulls away.  _ But you're right, I can't live that way, and I probably don't even want to. _ she follows, dances her way out of Nino's grasp when Nino tries to pull her back.

"W-Where - Where are you going?"

She turns to him, but only briefly.

_ Goodbye, Ninomiya Kazunari. _

++

"Nino, Nino, please come back to me. I need -" he begs, voice trailing when Nino groans and arches up from the bed. Ohno touches Nino's face - it's cold but somehow still soft - and leans down to nuzzle Nino's temple.

"You're wrong if you think you'll have him all to yourself, even if I die here," Nino mutters through tightly gritted teeth. It makes Ohno snap his head up in shock, wondering if Nino is talking to him, but looks like he isn't. Nino's eyes are still tightly shut, and he doesn't seem to be fully awake to even be aware that Ohno's taken the liberty to take him to bed, stripped him off his bloody clothes.

"Open your eyes, Nino," he begs, willing his clothes off, too, settling next to Nino and cradling Nino in his arms. Nino trashes, muttering something incoherent under his breath that makes Ohno's stomach trip up to his throat.

"So, let's say I allow you to have this body, live my life as if it's always been yours, are you sure you're going to be happy knowing that he constantly thinks of me? That he craves my touch, my body, just like he could be craving yours? Can you stand it? Can you?"

Is Nino talking to someone else? To Kazuko, maybe?

He pulls Nino in, tightly holds him in his arms and wishes there's some way to get inside Nino's head without ending up hurting him. If Kazuko is really there, if she's telling Nino to go, Ohno has to do something, anything, to make sure Nino is the one who stays.

Truthfully, Ohno's not sure when it happened, just that it did. He fell in love with Nino - his face, his body, his soul, regardless of the fact that he's housing the soul of the woman who made him a man. His desire for her was what made him what he is today, and he'll forever be grateful for her. For allowing him the chance to feel, to understand fully how it is to be human.

But that's it. She made him a man, but Nino is the one who's made him a human. From that day, and everyday thereafter, Nino's showing him how it is to love someone and be loved in return, his flaws, imperfections included.

But it's not only that. Nino makes him want to do better, to love better. With Nino, he's a different person, a different man altogether, not the Sentinel Leader that he knows he is. Everyday, he's getting closer to being that person he knows would be best for Nino, even though it might still not be enough.

Nino makes him want to strive harder, to be better, and if this isn't love, he's not sure what else this is.

"Nino please -" he says, then pulls a bit away to look Nino over. His hand strays from the small of Nino's back to his face, his angel heart aching. Nino still has his eyes close and Ohno backs away just the slightest bit, with all the intention of waking Nino up, when Nino’s fingers grab him by the arms, tugs him down and mutters…

"W-Where - Where are you going?"

The heartbreak in Nino's voice snaps Ohno into action, ducking down to capture Nino's mouth into a hard kiss before he realizes what he's done.


	25. Ally

Jun shifts back with a grunt, strides towards the corner his clothes ended up in after he’d thrown it off and put it on without another word.

When he’s done, he glances behind him to find the last remaining asshole gaping at him. Well, Jun couldn’t exactly blame him. There, on their once untainted floor, lay his five other friends’ bloody and unmoving bodies after Jun was done with them.

“Y-You k-killed them,” the young wolf, Shori-kun, whimpers shakily. He’s trembling so hard that Jun is afraid he’ll pass out anytime soon.

Jun shrugs. “They didn’t exactly give me any choice,” he says, wincing quietly at the sight.

He honestly didn’t plan on hurting anyone, much more killing these guys he considered friends, if not family, but they certainly didn’t leave him any choice. Sure, he kicked his way inside, but that’s because they didn’t want to let him in in peace. And when he finally managed to kick that door down, they all shifted and attacked him.

Jun couldn’t exactly blame the animal in him for taking over as soon as it sensed the danger, could he?

Well, what was he expecting anyway?

It was obvious that those lycans that revolted against the Angels thought that using Ninomiya was the best way to cripple the Sentinel’s Captain himself, but they’re wrong. In fact, the incident only fueled the Sentinel Angel Leader’s determination to find who was responsible for hurting his beloved.

Jun knows; he saw it with his own two eyes, after all.

Jun swears he would never forget the rage behind Ohno’s usually inexpressive eyes, the second his gaze landed on Ninomiya’s pale and unmoving form on the couch. He didn’t know it was possible to see such intense emotion in someone they deemed heartless, and emotionless, but Jun saw it himself to believe it.

And well, he gets where the lycans are coming from, to be honest. He doesn’t like the idea of serving the Sentinels all his life, either - the rest of the lycans think they’ve served enough and that they should no longer pay for the mistakes their ancestors made – but what else is there for them but this?

He was trained to work side by side with the Angels in order to keep the vampires in check and that’s it. His people had been talking about freedom but would they ever be free if, once they revolt, they’d have to run forever to avoid the Sentinels?

Is that really what his people want?

He turns, spying something moving in the shadows. His lycan hisses sensing the immediate threat, but Jun immediately tones the animal down the second he realizes who it is.

“Nagase-san,”

The older lycan steps out of the shadow, grinning.

Jun barely manages to move himself out of the way before Nagase throws himself at him as a man and lands centimeters away from Jun as a lycan.

++

"Shhhh, it's okay," he hushes, softly, cupping Nino's face and flipping their positions over as gently as he could manage it. It’s obvious that Nino is still mostly asleep, but it's hard to tell with the way Nino is writhing wantonly in his arms with his eyes tightly shut, lips finding him for a hard, bruising kiss.

Ohno keeps an arm around Nino's waist to steady him, the other he places gently against Nino's nape to kiss him back, but it's obviously still not enough. The heat is making him dizzy, and it's difficult to pretend he is still in control when there's that answering hardness digging against his leg and Nino is rolling his hips in counter to the movement of Ohno's own, their erections brushing in the process.

"Christ, Nino -" he grunts, growling low under his breath and steadying Nino with a hand against the small of Nino's back while Nino takes his attention elsewhere.

Soon, Nino is growling, too, the sound reverberating through every single nerve-ending in Ohno's body and thus lighting Ohno's blood on fire.

And it is enough to have Ohno growling in turn, fingers shaking in his attempt to touch Nino all the fuck over.

Nino turns to nuzzle the skin beneath Ohno's ear then, and it's like a direct fucking link to his dick. He groans, throwing his head back to give Nino further access to his skin, Nino licking that spot softly, repeatedly, before letting his mouth travel further down, to Ohno's throat, before he finally settles, nuzzling the spot on the nape of Ohno's neck where Ohno's pulse is beating strongly, almost frantically, under Nino's lips.

Ohno hums and tilts his head further into the side as his hands settle possessively on either side of Nino's hips. It's all too surreal, Ohno thinks, sensation and relief mingling together, knowing that Nino is alive, and he's here, with him.

He couldn't even believe he'd almost lost Nino earlier - almost - though he's not sure whether he should be glad that Nino did come back though with a few added, um, extras. Especially when his uncertainty about the whole thing is slowly doubling on its own, knowing how badly things would turn out the second Nino opens his eyes and realizes he’s changed.

It's bad enough that Nino's been changed against his will and Ohno wonders how he could possibly explain to Nino that what happened to him had been Ohno’s fault.

“N-Nino -” he breathes, then gasps at the feel of sharp teeth tearing into his skin. The initial shock fades, and it is quickly replaced with a familiar sensation as Nino sinks his teeth further into Ohno’s skin.

Ohno gave himself exactly two seconds to allow Nino to settle before throwing his head back and threading his fingers through Nino's hair to keep him there, closing his eyes letting Nino have his fill of Ohno’s blood as he stayed completely still.

"More," he hums when Nino tries to pull away, fingernails digging into Ohno's skin. "Take more, it's okay. It's okay, Nino." he says, smiling quietly to himself when Nino does exactly what he's told. Nino hums back at him and if the feel of his lips moving against Ohno's skin isn’t enough to fuel Ohno’s desire for Nino, he doesn’t know what else would.

Nino grunts, his fingers worm their way around the back of Ohno’s head to keep him in place as his lips work hard on a few consecutive swallows against Ohno’s pulse-point. Ohno groans, low and outdrawn, feeling as if those lovely lips are instead wrapped around his dick rather than pressed against his skin, as if Nino isn’t simply sucking the angel blood out of him but instead driving him completely insane.

“Yes, just like that, you’re doing great, Nino,” he whispers, urging Nino on, biting his lips to keep the noises in.

Nino takes his time, doesn’t rush, and Ohno lies there with his eyes close, wishing he could have done more, to protect Nino.

  
  


**

“I did what you asked,” mutters the lycan from the other end of the line. He sounded worried, scared; it makes Yoko wonder what he knows.

“Do I need to applaud you or something?” he asks, mockingly, trying to imagine the enraged look on the lycan’s face while they talk. It’s funny how easily he’d managed to convince the dogs to change alliances, just for a few bucks and promised freedom.

“You’ve been paid,” he adds, smirking; “Just as we agreed.”

“We were promised safe trip out of the country,” the lycan snarls, “but instead, you made us live in a cave like fucking animals.”

Yoko grins. “Are you not?”

“Fuck you, this isn’t what we -”

“The agreement was clear, asshole!” he bites back angrily; “You were supposed to kill Matsumoto! You were supposed to make sure Ninomiya couldn’t be revived! You were supposed to send your lycans after Ohno to kill him, but what did you do?!” he yells, feeling his wings unfurling behind him as this human emotion consumes the rest of him, before throwing the phone against the wall in rage.

And he hates it; hates the fact that he could no longer recognize himself, after so long of being here, of living amongst the humans and the vampires he hates so much. Somehow, he’s at this point where all he wants is to kill every single living thing here on earth and beg the Creator to let him come home, even if he had to do so without his brothers.

It’s horrible, knowing that he might be the only one who feels this way, the only one who’d been so sick of living here on Earth with their seemingly unending duty to protect the mortals, because personally, he’s sick of it.

Truthfully, he had thought of this for so long, but it wasn’t until Nagase Tomoya ended up as one of Ohno’s guards that he’d actually considered doing it. Nagase, who had been so vocal about his extreme dislike over his people working under the Sentinels for centuries without having to see an end to it.

And Yoko used that knowledge to his advantage. He honestly didn’t wish to hurt those innocent mortals – doing so might put him in the Creator’s bad side as well - but Yoko knows that sacrifices must be made in order to see his plan through, knowing that doing so might be the only way that he could go back home. If he waits for their Leader to do something about their current predicament, Yoko knows he will end up like one of those bloodsuckers he hates so much soon enough.

And that’s why he decided to take matters into his own hands, despite his initial doubt about the whole affair.

A movement on his left takes his attention back to the present. He turns, his wings poised to defend him from the apparent danger, and stops.

Scowling, he surveys the bloodsucker sitting primly on his couch, as if he owns the place.

“The fuck are you doing here?” he snaps.

The vampire looks thoughtful for a moment before he shrugs, crossing his long legs carefully while letting Yoko watch.

“If you’re here to ask me what happened, forget it. I know you were there when they brought Ninomiya in. The lycan who was tasked to do the job told me.”

“I wasn’t going to, Yoko-chan,”

Yoko frowns. “Good. Then why are you here? I thought we agreed about being careful, and about meeting each other only when it is absolutely necessary?”

The vampire grins, like he cares so little about their plan failing; Yoko wonders if that’s the case, but he knows it isn’t. Everything he did, up until this point, wouldn’t have been possible if not for this particular vampire’s help, so it is understandable for the other man to feel upset that things didn’t go as planned. And Yoko knows that he is, even though the bloodsucker doesn’t actually show it.

“Well?”

The vampire’s expression visibly darkened. “You know I wouldn’t be here if it’s not important,” the vampire says.

Yoko’s brow arches in answer. “Obviously.” he says. “So, tell me.”

The vampire pulls himself upright from the couch and crosses the short distance between himself and Yoko, then stops when they’re almost nose to nose. Yoko’s angelic instinct is telling him to pull back, to put a safe distance between him and the bloodsucker but the feel of the bloodsucker’s fingers wrapping around his wrist stops him.

“Change of plan, Yoko-chan,” the vampire says, his cold breath caressing the side of Yoko’s face.

“What do you mean?”

The vampire’s lips curl into a confident smirk, and for once, Yoko feels particularly threatened.

“Your trusted lycans failed to kill the Alpha, and that’s problematic, because now he’s on the hunt for those who are responsible for your Leader’s lover’s abduction,” the vampire says, fingers tightening their grip around Yoko’s wrist.

“I am aware about -”

“And it seems like our own Leader wants in,” the vampire adds, cutting Yoko off.

Yoko blinks; he certainly didn’t expect this complicated development, especially not after the confusing fact that Ohno’s lover is somewhat related to the Vampire Leader by blood.

“What are you suggesting we should do?”

The vampire leans in, closer and closer still. “Change tactics, of course,” he says.

“How?”

“Simple,” the vampire says, “Forget about using someone else to trigger our desired effect.” he follows; Yoko frowns, confused.

The vampire grins and continues as if he hadn’t paused.

“In short, let’s stop going after Ninomiya,” the vampire adds, “since we both know you don’t need him anyway.”

“Are you actually proposing -”

“Yes, Yoko-chan,” the vampire says, grinning thoughtfully. “I’m saying I’ll help you kill Sho-chan instead.”

Yoko grins. This – This is not a bad idea at all.

He leans in forward and lets his lips brush against the vampire’s neck, soft and teasing, as his wings unfurl behind him.

“Not bad, Aiba-san,” he says, feeling the vampire’s hands caressing his behind. “Won’t you tell me more about this plan?”

Aiba-san hums and tugs him closer. “Gladly.”


	26. Reckoning

"You messed with the wrong Sentinel, Nagase-san."

Nagase smirks, looking entirely like a man who knows he fucked up but cares too little of it. But Jun knows. He's worked side by side with Nagase for a long time to know that the wheels inside the older lycan's head are turning, his survival instinct kicking in despite the fact that Jun's tackled him on the floor, and pinned him there, rendering him immovable.

It's an obvious ruse - Nagase tends to act like a total asshole when he's cornered - and Jun's certainly not going to let himself be fooled. He's done enough of that to last him two lifetimes, and allowing so had also resulted in endangering the life of the one human he was tasked to protect, the one person he considered a friend.

_ Nino _ .

_ Fuck. _

Just the thought of seeing that crazy stick of a man face to face again is making Jun's stomach twist, in combined shame and anxiety. For one, he knows how pissed Nino will be the moment he opens his eyes and realizes he'd ended up like one of those bloodsuckers he hates, but Jun equally dreads the fact that partly, he is to blame for it.

If he'd only properly done his job, none of this would have happened; if only he had been strong enough to take on the bastards that took Nino, if only he hadn't made the stupid mistake of opening the door for them when they'd called, then Nino wouldn't have to suffer like this.

But he didn't - he wasn't able to, and that's all there is to it.

"At least I tried," Nagase snarls under his weight, restrained carefully within Jun's grasp. Jun honestly has no idea where he's getting the extra strength from - he's certain Nagase's huge physique alone could outthrow three pairs of medium-built lycans in one go - but he guesses he could think about that matter on another day.

"Unlike you, I don't intend to remain sniffing after the Sentinels for the rest of my miserable existence."

Jun growls and reminds himself that this is the same guy he had once entrusted his life with, the same person he'd considered like his own flesh and blood, if only to keep himself from doing something he knows he will regret later.

"And you think that with what you did, you've gained the freedom you've been dreaming of? Come on, we both know you're hallucinating." he counters, pinning Nagase to the floor when he twitches. He could feel the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end, could hear the animal in him roaring in combined rage and grief.

It wants out, and a part of Jun wants to give the animal the freedom to do what it wants, and only the virtue of knowing the animal won't even hesitate to kill Nagase without blinking is the only thing stopping him.

"It was supposed to be your job," Nagase breathes, and Jun spies something different in the sound of his voice, in the way he'd gone stiff and motionless under Jun's restraining weight. "You were supposed to help free your people, but instead, you turned on us. You sided with the Sentinel, when you should have sided with us."

"Working for the Sentinels does not necessarily mean -"

"It does and you know it!" Nagase snarls, cutting Jun off. "It can't go on like this forever, Matsumoto. It can't. I refuse to believe that we're only created to serve the Sentinel Angels like this all our lives," Nagase says, then pauses to breathe.

"So when that backstabbing Sentinel propositioned us -"

Jun stiffs.  _ What? _ "What? What did you just say?"

Nagase's body rocks with the force of his laughter, shaking until Jun has no other choice but to let him go. Something's not adding up, Jun thinks, frowning as he pushes himself a good distance away from Nagase.

Nagase is still wheezing when he looks up and meets Jun's inquiring eyes straight on.

"What do you mean you've been propositioned?" he asks.

Nagase's left eye twitch and Jun doesn't realize he is bracing himself for the oncoming revelation until Nagase opens his mouth to talk.

"That Sentinel wanted Ninomiya dead, for starters, but the vampire he is working with doesn't. It was seriously confusing, I'm telling you. One side wants the human dead and the other doesn't. But one thing's for certain; they're all conspiring to bring each other down, Matsumoto. All of them. And if we don't get the hell out, we'll all get caught in the middle. All of us will turn up dead." Nagase mutters, his eyes dead serious.

"But you know what the funny thing is about all this?" Nagase follows, mouth quirking in mirthless laughter.

"The vampire and the Sentinel leaders don't know shit."

+

Ohno's voice is soft and coaxing, and Nino's heart breaks a little bit more inside.

He’s held on until it hurts, his fingers tight on the Sentinel Angel’s shoulders for dear life as his lips work hard, swallowing what he could. Every drop of the Angel’s blood is like another dagger to the heart, and with each and every swallow he is treated with the memory of Ohno and that woman from years and years ago.

Those memories he thought are his, aren't, and the only man he'd fallen in love with, thought he'd shared a special bond with, only made an effort to be with him because of the soul of the woman he's housing in his own body.

They only serve as a reminder that he doesn't have any right to claim Ohno his – the Sentinel's heart, his love, as the woman had confidently reminded him because they all belong to her. It's painful, and Nino decides he'll give Ohno up after this, after one last kiss, at least, as he pulls his mouth away from Ohno's neck, closing the wound he made there with a gentle swipe of his tongue.

It's hard, and he could already feel it in the way he's having trouble pulling away as it is.

"Enough?" he hears Ohno's inquiring voice in his ear, and Nino purrs despite the debilitating need to pull away, curling against the warmth of Ohno's body clinging unto his skin.

_ One last kiss, _ he tells himself, his unbeating heart breaking along with the rest of him when he leans up and offers his mouth for a kiss.

...then promptly open his eyes realizing what is happening.

"Nino?"

Nino hisses, pop his blood-red eyes open and pulls back from Ohno as far as he could manage it, left hand reaching up to find his fear confirmed. His fangs pierce skin and Nino looks down to see blood pooling on his fingertip, blinks the sudden blurriness knowing what it means.

He promptly looks down and averts his gaze, breath catching in his throat.

It's all real, and he hasn't been dreaming.

He'd been turned into the creature he and Ohno hates.

_ You're a good liar _ , _N_ _ inomiya Kazunari _ , she'd said. But even Nino himself knows there's no way he could lie his way out of this no matter how good he thinks he is at it.

He's a vampire, and there's no way Ohno would ever consider - no. He can't go there, not now, not after what had happened.

He can't stay here, knowing what he'd become. He wouldn't know what he'll feel if he has to see that disappointment in Ohno's eyes, the hatred, for what had happened to him.

He knows he won't be able to stand it.

Nino turns, his movements faster than when he was a mere mortal, barely realizing he is naked as the day he was born, with all the intention to flee.

He gets as far as putting one foot on the floor before a pair of strong arms restrain him from behind, and a soft, familiar lips pressing lightly against the back of his neck, coaxing him to stay put.

"Shhhh, Nino, it's okay."

Nino closes his eyes and wonders if it ever will be.

++

Ohno knows he should be careful, as he coaxes Nino back to bed, as gently as he could manage it. Nino is surprisingly still in his arms, quiet despite the heartbreaking tears running across his face when Ohno manages to get him to lie back down on the bed with him.

He wills the covers over them, but not before making sure he's got Nino safe and secure inside his arms. It's a tricky maneuver, especially when Nino remains uncharacteristically still against him, weeping quietly into Ohno's chest.

Ohno's heart breaks a little more knowing he can't do anything to stop it.

His mind is filled with possibilities regarding Nino's surprising reaction, most of them pointing to Kazuko and her tendency to be quite the royal bitch. It's worrying as much as it is frustrating, and Ohno is this close from invading Nino's privacy by checking Nino's mind himself, and the only thing stopping him is Nino himself.

"Nino, please talk to me," he whispers, lips pressed lightly into Nino's temple.

He's so tempted to look into Nino's mind to know, but Nino threw a serious fit when he did it before so he's straying away from doing so again, if he could help it. Even if he badly wants to, if only so he could mend the pain away he knows Nino is feeling right now.

Nino remains quiet. "Please, Kazu, I - it's breaking my heart to see you like this, you have no idea. I'm this close into getting into your head if only to know what you're thinking but I know you wouldn't want that so -"

"Did you really just indulge me then because I was housing the soul of your first and only love?" Nino cuts in, still mostly into Ohno's chest. Ohno has to breathe deeply to calm himself, knowing the weather outside mirrors exactly what he is feeling.

Yes and No, he wants to say, but settles on, "No, that's not true," he says, pulling Nino to him, fingers cradling the back of Nino's head.

He closes his eyes, worried and equal-parts heartbroken. Is this about Kazuko? Did she really talk to Nino earlier?

"Well, that was what she told me."

Ohno's heart throbs painfully in his chest as he tugs Nino closer, places a quick kiss to the side of Nino's head.

Honesty. Ohno knows it's when it's needed, and well, Ohno could do it, too. For Nino.

And honestly, for Kazuko, too.

He breathes, pulls Nino in, and in a low voice, he tells Nino everything.

++

Nino bravely resurfaces from where he's kept his face buried against Ohno's chest for the longest time, and blinks up at Ohno wearily.

"You're not playing with me, are you, Sentinel?"

"I won't even think of it." Ohno says. He shakes his head and leans down to plant a soft kiss to the side of Nino's mouth that Nino is so tempted to follow through, if not for the fact that there's another matter - an entirely disgusting one at that - that they should discuss, too.

"She's - how do I say it - she's the one who made a man, but you, my love, is the one who made me human." Ohno finishes, like he means it. Nino wonders how he could even doubt it when Ohno doesn't seem hardly bothered the minute Nino tells him that his precious Kazuko is gone for good.

It's been so long that I could no longer remember how it was with her, especially since I met you, Ohno had said, as he looked straight at Nino.

"I know, stop reminding me," Nino says, making a good show of his distaste at the memory of watching Ohno get intimate with the woman who made Nino feel so damn bad about himself.

"But you're all I want now, Ninomiya Kazunari," Ohno counters, pulling Nino down to him and kissing him full on the lips. Nino gives in wholeheartedly, despite his other worries wearing him down.

Ohno pulls back just far enough to talk. Nino lets him. "I'm sure Kazuko realized that, so -"

"Actually, I cheated," Nino cuts in. To the confused look on Ohno's face, he follows. "Well, I told her she'd have to live through the reality of us sharing you, if she decides to claim my body as her own. So, I made her believe you wanted me for me, and not just because I happened to own the body that housed her soul this time around. That it's not all her that captured your attention this time, and she took the bait." Nino pauses, bites his lips.

"Sorry, but I had to fight my way back. I had to fight for you and for myself, because -"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Nino, believe me," this time, it is Ohno's turn to cut Nino off. Gently, as if he still couldn't believe Nino is there, Ohno traces Nino's cheek tenderly, thumbing the underside of Nino's eyes, his heart aches with longing as he stares at Nino's face.

"I love you so much, Ninomiya Kazunari," Ohno declares, "And I'm eternally glad you came back to me. You. Not her. Not again. It has been you since you walked up to me that day at the airport, and it has been you every day thereafter."

Nino looks down, his otherwise unbeating heart warming at the words he never expected to hear. Not after everything.

Especially not after what had happened to him.

"But I'm - I'm a v-vampire now. S-Surely, you must want to -"

Ohno stops him yet again by cupping his chin and kissing him soundly on the lips, with a hint of tongue.

"Oh love, that's just made everything a whole lot better." Ohno declares, gleefully.

"Excuse me?"

Ohno turns their positions over till Nino is the one trapped on the bed, Ohno's body covering his. Ohno leans down and kisses him, long, slow and filthy, and Nino kisses back just eagerly before he could even stop himself.

"An eternity with you by my side," Ohno says, smiling through Nino's mouth, hips rolling against Nino's own. The action alone is enough to make Nino forget his worries, hands finding Ohno's hips to hold on to as he returns Ohno's kisses.

"What more can I ask for?" Ohno follows, and well, Nino kind of agrees to that, too.


	27. Behind enemy lines

Jun thinks it's totally unfair that he's assigned another babysitting job. After royally fucking up keeping Ninomiya safe, Ohno probably thought that a punishment of some sort is in order.

But, seriously, a bloodsucker? Under Jun's care? The Sentinel Leader certainly has a wicked sense of humor, Jun thinks bitterly.

"Matsumoto-san," greets the vampire waiting for him in his quarters, his usual companion missing. Jun spies him glancing around the place when he entered, averting his gaze elsewhere. Jun shrugs and lets the vampire stare for all he cares, as he lazily struts his way inside in search of a towel.

"You're the only one staying here?"

"For now," he says, not bothering with an explanation he knows the vampire doesn't need. Though, it is difficult not to feel lonely, staying in this place alone after sharing the same space with people he considered friends for a long period of time, but that's just how it is, he guesses. Now, in the absence of those people, this place feels rather huge and suffocating.

"I'm sorry for coming in unannounced," the vampire says, obviously changing the subject, and Jun turns, pausing in his attempt to dry his hair to give the vampire a look. "I have an urgent matter to discuss with Ohno, and it can't wait. But he specifically told me to locate you first."

_ Then, isn't it better if you'd just waited outside? _ , Jun wants to ask but talks himself out of it, and instead settles on, "Guess we can both assume why," he chuckles, then proceeds on scrubbing his chest dry.

He'd just came back from a run and the unexpected rain left him dripping wet. He hadn't considered coming back to find a visitor waiting for him, so he didn't bother getting a change of clothes when he came back.

But it also doesn't mean he has to walk around naked in front of his visitor, but Jun couldn't help but want to tease the bloodsucker a bit. The animal in him senses the vampire's uneasiness, laced with such aching curiosity to his amusement, and Jun wonders if somehow, he's not the only one.

As if on cue, Jun finds himself remembering the first time he saw this bloodsucker, and his body's reaction upon seeing him. How the animal in him roared in combined rage and lust, and how he'd imagined himself drilling this vampire against the car he was walking by.

"Can't you at least cover yourself up?" the vampire hisses, as if he can no longer help himself. Jun looks down on himself and groans mentally, finding his cock hard and standing proud in between his legs.

He raises his head and finds the vampire looking. Cupping himself, Jun smirks and walks the short way between him and the vampire, half-amused and half-disgusted with himself.

"Why, is this bothering you?" he asks, leering; "This is my house and we lycans normally strut around wearing nothing. Makes shifting easier, you know?" he says. It's complete nonsense, but that's the only thing he could come up with at the moment, if only to stave off the debilitating need to cross the remaining distance between him and the vampire to kiss him.

"There are no lycans around," the vampire points out, "and we both know you have no reason to shift now. So, can you please put some clothes on?" the vampire adds, pursing his lips tightly.

Jun's nose twitches, scenting something in the air that obviously doesn't belong to him. It's lust, undeniably so, and Jun is certain it is coming from the bloodsucker eyeing him warily from the short distance separating them.

"I don't see any reason to," he says, leaning in closer to the vampire just to be a jerk. He's honestly annoyed at himself for wanting nothing but to grab the bloodsucker and kiss him senseless, and the only thing stopping him is the fact that he knows he shouldn't.

"I mean, aren't you enjoying the view?"

His hatred for this bloodsucker's kind runs deep; they make his skin crawl, especially the females, but this particular one is messing him up in ways he doesn’t understand. Jun doesn’t get it at all, but just the sight of him scowling there, incites a lust so strong Jun could barely breathe through it. His blood boils with hatred but the vampire's mere presence is also making his dick hard to the point of pain. The scent of his confusion mingled with something akin to curiosity is like a potent aphrodisiac, luring Jun further.

If that’s not reason enough to confuse the shit out of Jun, he's not sure what else would.

"It's not that I'm -" the vampire says, but cuts himself in the middle, shaking his head. Then he waves his hand, gesturing at Jun. "You're naked. And it's awfully distracting, talking to a naked person. I know your kind doesn't care about propriety and all that other stuff but -"

"It's obvious that you like what you're seeing," Jun cuts in, grinning, as he starts circling the bloodsucker, smelling his desire and his confusion mingling. "Don't deny it now, Sakurai-san."

A beat. "I'm not denying anything," the vampire says, harshly. "You know what you have and you're not afraid to flaunt it, fine, I get it. I just. Can't we talk about why I'm here like two civilized people? Go get dressed and I'll wait for you outside. And please stop flaunting your desire at me like that, it's - it's making me twitchy!" the vampire complains, backing back a step just as Jun leans in.

"Sorry, I can't help it. Your being here is fucking up with my head. On one hand, I want to wring your pretty neck and kill you with my bare hands, and on the other, I want to shove you up against that wall and fuck you till you're screaming."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," the vampire says, leering back. "It's because you're an animal. It's obviously in your nature to want to fuck anything that moves, and it doesn't matter what it is."

Jun snorts and pushes forward, his desire making his spine tingle. "So you said," he says, nose twitching. He barely gave the vampire enough time to move away before he pressed closer, hands on either side of the vampire's hips, grounding their erections together.

"But you're obviously hot for me, too, so, what's your excuse?"

++

Jun keeps his distance, though just barely. He can't afford to fuck up more than he already has, and despite the fact that he'd rather kill the Vampire Leader himself, he can't.

Ohno's instructions were clear; keep Sakurai Sho safe.

It probably has something to do with the information Jun had given Ohno, after Jun's unplanned confrontation with Nagase. He hadn't managed to get anything out of the lycan after that, aside from that disturbing riddle Nagase provided him with, but Jun gets it.

Obviously, Ohno does, too.

Lycans, Sentinels and Vampires are working together to bring each faction down, and they're not going to stop until everything has fallen apart.

"Where's that other bloodsucker who's with you everytime? I'm surprised he didn't go with you." Jun says, conversationally, as he is leading them towards the open gate. From there, it's still a few minutes walk to the front of Ohno's enormous home, and the lack of lycans running the perimeter brings a fresh wave of pain in Jun's chest.

"Aiba-chan? Oh, well, he wanted to," the vampire answers, "but I told him I had to go alone. I - There are things I need to confirm myself, and there's my sister, for one."

Jun nods. He wouldn't probably ever know how it feels to have a loved one taken away from him, only to be brought back centuries later, in a different guise, but it's not like he doesn't understand. He saw how Ohno fought for Ninomiya, after all, and it's not that hard to see how deeply the vampire leader cares for his sister, too.

He just doesn't get how that whole reincarnation thing works, but he guesses he doesn't have to. The Sentinel and Vampire Leaders obviously thought their loved one came back in the form of Ninomiya, so, who is Jun to judge them for it?

"I hope you're prepared to meet this, err, sister of yours," Jun says, just as he leads them both inside the open doorway. "I mean, she obviously doesn't look all sisterly to me, no offense meant."

The vampire chuckles, and Jun is treated with the sight of his gorgeous smile, the way his face brightens for a moment.

"None taken," the vampire says, "I do know it's all quite complicated, but I'm prepared for it. I just. Let's hope she does recognize me."

Jun shrugs, still reeling at the unexpected warmth blooming in his chest. The vampire leader has no business standing there looking so boyish, so trusting, but he does and it makes things in Jun's chest tight.

"I'll suggest not keep your hopes up, but who am I kidding?" he says, then turns.

They are face to face with the Sentinel Angel and Ninomiya, who looks paler than usual.

"Ohno-san, I brought Sakurai-san with me," he says, bowing his head slightly.

Wrong move. Because the next time he blinks, Sakurai is toppled to the floor, and Ninomiya is perched over him, growling and snarling.

"Ninomiya-san, don't -"

"Nino, what the hell!"

"Kazuko, wait!"

All three of them scream in unison, but Ninomiya hears nothing. With his newly acquired vampire strength, he pins the vampire leader on the floor with his hands on the vampire's shoulders, growls, and ducks, fangs piercing against skin.

  
  


++

  
  


Ohno couldn't get to him fast enough. He watches, helpless, as Nino's fangs pierce into skin, followed by the sound of the Vampire Leader's muffled scream. Ohno should have known it'll come to this - he hadn't managed to tell Nino about his discovery involving Sakurai Sho in Nino's family's murder, after all - but seeing Nino in action has Ohno wondering if he did the right thing.

Nino pulls away before either him or Jun could stop him, wiping his bloodied mouth with the back of his hand.

Pointing, he snarls. "It's not him," he says, taking his dark gaze back to Ohno. "How is that possible, Oh-chan? I know his face, I won't ever forget it, but his memory told me otherwise!"

Ohno steps forward and carefully gathers Nino in his arms, watching Jun do the same. He picks Sakurai from where he is sprawled on the floor, hand slapped on the open wound on his neck, blood oozing through his fingers.

"I meant to tell you earlier," Ohno says, tugging Nino closer and pressing his lips against Nino's temple. He did mean to, but with Nino adjusting to his new self, Ohno had, too. Nino is insatiable, in bed and out of it, and Ohno meant to keep up with him.

Forgetting some pretty important stuff, sadly, had to happen. And the vampire leader earned the blunt of it.

"But then you had to join me in the shower and I got distracted." he whispers that last bit into Nino's ear, hoping the others couldn't hear.

Nino visibly relaxes, and Ohno mouths his apology towards Sho. The Vampire Leader shakes his head and allows himself to be moved, Jun almost half-carrying him towards the nearest couch.

When he pulls his mouth away, Nino scowls. "Well, explain it to me now," he says, "And in detail. I want to know what happened and why he has no memory of sucking my mother dry."

Ohno rubs the back of Nino's neck tenderly and leans in to kiss the side of his neck.

"Of course, Nino."

Nino huffs but otherwise allows himself to be dragged into the other couch there, sitting Nino there, making sure Sakurai Sho isn't going to end up bleeding himself to death before he sits himself next to Nino.

  
  


++

  
  


"You're joking," Nino hisses. Ohno shakes his head and takes Nino's hands in his, kissing the backs of them softly as Sakurai watches.

"I wish I am, Nino, but you know I'm not. I won't do that to you, never."

Nino blinks his confusion away, but Ohno feels it acutely, pumping through Nino's veins.

"He's not the one -" Nino cuts himself midway, and reaches up to massage his temple. Vampires aren't supposed to have headaches, but after what he just heard, even Ohno has doubts. "I don't get it. I don't fucking get it. I mean, how is that possible? I saw you. And two other bloodsuckers with you that day. I mean, are you saying there are two of you? Your twin?"

Sakurai shakes his head. He obviously thought of saying his twin was a girl, and that she’s actually standing in front of him, but probably thought better of it. Instead, he settles on, "I can only assume that it was done deliberately. That someone could have posed as us, to make you believe that it was me who did the deed. Made themselves look like us and attacked your family as you watched." the vampire said, hesitant. "I really - I mean, I don't understand it myself. But what I'm certain is that it wasn't me, Kazu - Ninomiya-san. I wasn't the one who killed your mother."

Nino looks unconvinced, but even he knows that Sakurai's blood memory doesn't lie. It couldn't.

"Then who did?" Nino winces, voice shaking.

Ohno brackets his arms around Nino, gaze meeting Jun's and Sho's over Nino's shaking shoulder.

"We're going to find out soon enough, Nino, I promise." he says.

Just then, Sakurai clears his throat. "Ohno-san, can I...can I talk to Ninomiya-san in private, please? I just. There's just something I need to ask him."

Nino unburies his face from Ohno's neck and turns to give Sakurai a look.

"If it is about your sister, I'm sorry." Nino says. Sakurai sputters, wordless, eyes wide.

"W-What do you mean?" Sakurai asks.

Nino looks apologetic, at the very least, turning his gaze at Ohno at the last minute. Ohno shakes his head, answering Nino's wordless question and squeezing Nino's hips.

The fact that Ohno had called Sakurai here for the same reason doesn't make confirming it any easier. If he could spare Sakurai the pain of having to lose his sister this time around, too, and for good, he honestly would. No one deserves to go through that pain over and over again, as Ohno experienced the same thing himself, no matter the consequences. The only good thing that came out of all this is Nino, and Ohno swears he won't want it any other way.

Nino wriggles out of his hold and he lets him, watches as Nino faces Sakurai completely. Then, without a word, he bows, mumbles the only thing he probably knows matters at the moment, as he watches Sakurai's stance crumble to the ground, his expression pained.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but she's gone. She's gone. I'm so sorry -"


	28. Inseparable

“Are you going to keep following me?” The Vampire Leader hisses just as Jun turned the corner only to find the bloodsucker standing there, back against the dark alley’s wall and arms crossed over his chest.

Jun curses, mentally chastising himself and his obviously defective lycan sense of smell for not being able to sense the vampire immediately. He turns, keeping a respectable distance between him and the bloodsucker for good measure, before crossing his arms over his chest and deliberately copying the vampire’s stance by doing so.

“Come on, bloodsucker, don’t be so full of yourself, what made you think I was even-” he starts, or at least starts to, but then he’s got a facefull of bloodsucker the second after, and anything he is about to say next ends up trapped in his throat as he stares wide-eyed into the vampire’s face.

“Because I know Ohno told you to,” the vampire says, apropos of nothing, as if he knows - he obviously does, damn it - the sweet-spicy scent of the vampire’s skin teasing Jun’s nostrils with every fucking breath he takes. He knows what he should do - push the bloodsucker away and maybe punch him in the face for good measure - but he’s too busy filling his head with the vampire’s scent that he can’t even bring himself to do any of it.

“And if you’re going to lie to me about that too, then you’d better work on weakening your presence, lycan. I can fucking smell you from miles away, you know?” the vampire says, before stepping back and leaving Jun to deal with the aftermath of his frayed nerves, mixed with arousal.

And it doesn’t help that despite their mutual animosity, Jun could feel the animal’s desire to pounce, its most basic instincts taking over, and it’s taking Jun all of his reserved strength not to do just that, backing Sakurai against the nearest wall and nailing him there.

Jun gives himself a few seconds to calm himself, ordering the animal to stand down as he breathes air back to his lungs. He can still feel the vampire’s presence somewhere to his right, and Jun feels grateful and equal-parts annoyed that the bloodsucker hasn’t left yet.

Well, no matter, Jun has his orders to keep an eye on the vampire, keep him safe despite it being the understatement of the year, to his opinion. It doesn’t matter that he’d rather stake the vampire to a tree and display his decapitated body there for everyone to see, because the Sentinel Leader’s orders remain firm.

He shifts and surveys the vampire over, noticing the misery curving the vampire’s mouth even despite the darkness. Jun finds himself remembering the way the bloodsucker had fallen on his knees in combined pain and anguish, finding out that the sister he longed to reunite with is gone forever.

“He just wants to make sure you get home safe.” Jun returns, lamely, as he desperately tries to swallow the debilitating urge to cross the short distance between him and the vampire just so he could smooth the frown marring the vampire’s forehead.

Sakurai blinks at him, then huffs out a mirthless laughter while he shakes his head, as if in disbelief.

“I think you guys keep on forgetting that I am  _ the _ Vampire Leader,” Sakurai says, “and that it goes without saying that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Jun shrugs, honestly not doubting that fact, despite the heartbreaking sight he saw earlier. Somehow, it’s hard not to see the bloodsucker in a different light, especially with the way Sakurai had allowed Jun the luxury to put his arms around the vampire to put him away to safety, after Ninomiya had vehemently attacked him.

“Just following orders, bloodsucker,” he returns, without heat. “I swear I’d rather hunt something that I could kill in the end instead of tailing your ass, but as it is, we can’t always have what we want. So, move the hell along so I could go home to my bed already.”

The smile Sakurai gave him this time seems genuine, as he shakes his head, chuckling.

“Well, you’re here anyway, so how about we go someplace and have a drink? My treat.” the vampire offers. Jun quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry, but I have no desire to go blood-drinking with you, no matter what you say.”

Sakurai laughs, and the sound of it is so rich Jun finds himself grinning in return, and feels something unusual blooming in his chest at the sight of the smile gracing the vampire’s face.

“I was actually thinking of alcohol, or anything alcohol-related drink you fancy, but blood is fine, too, of course.” Sakurai says.

Jun could very well feel the animal within him wheeze in glee, and for what it's worth, he knows that he is, too. He’s just so much better at hiding it, after all.

“So long as you’re paying, and you’re not going to end up drinking blood from me, I guess it’s okay,” he says, “Shall we go, then?”

The vampire grins and turns. “There’s a bar just right after that corner,” Sakurai says, barely giving Jun a glance. “I’ll race you there, lycan.”

Jun smirks. “If I get there first, you’ll treat me to dinner too.”

“And if you don’t?”

Jun winks, only belatedly realizing it when he already did it. Damn.

“I’ll think of something.” he says, running off even before Sakurai is able to say something in return.

++

Nino turns away from the window, where he’d spent the last half hour in silence. Ohno watches on, fingers twitching with the strong desire to touch, to let Nino know he’s there, but couldn’t. Nino’s pain is palpable despite the distance, and Ohno feels it acutely.

Ohno knows, even without Nino admitting it, that he’s having difficulties accepting the truth. After all, finding out that the bloodsucker he’d been hunting almost half of his adult life turned out to be someone different is honestly disappointing, if not heartbreaking.

“I don’t want any of these, you know?” Nino says, his voice quiet, but Ohno heard him just the same. The admission is like a direct stab to Ohno’s heart, and for a moment there, he fervently wishes he has the ability to turn back time, to give Nino back what he’d lost.

But he can’t. God help him, but he can’t.

“I’ve never wanted to be born with another soul in my body, I’ve never wanted to be that kid who ended up watching his mother die in the hands of those animals, then grow up thinking I was a freak show,” Nino continues, darting his gaze elsewhere as if to hide the pain showing up in his face, but Ohno saw it just the same.

His heart breaks for Nino yet again, and the ache growing in his chest intensifies as he stands there unable to do anything, knowing that he can’t touch Nino just yet.

“I don’t want any of these, Oh-chan, okay? God, but I don’t -” Nino pauses here, and Ohno thinks, fuck this. He’s by Nino’s side the next instant, branding his arms around Nino and pulling Nino to him.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he whispers, pressing his lips against the side of Nino’s temple, the gesture effectively calming Nino’s anxiety down. “I promise I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you again, you hear me? You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you anymore, I promise.”

Nino says nothing in return but he allows Ohno close, closer, and Ohno relishes in it, his heart still breaking in tiny pieces as he holds Nino to him.

++

The water feels perfect when Nino gets under the shower, just the right amount of temperature that has Nino sighing in contentment despite his earlier anxiety. It’s easier when Ohno is close because despite his qualms about Ohno using his ability to calm Nino down, he wouldn’t deny the fact that he loves the attention directed at him and only him.

He raises his head and shuts his eyes close, enjoying the feel of the water against his face when a pair of arms embrace him from behind and effectively startling him. It is short-lived though, because then he is sighing again, in familiar comfort and fondness, knowing that it is the Sentinel Leader hugging him.

“Better now?” Ohno whispers, lips pressed against the side of Nino’s neck. Nino hums in answer and tilts his head sideways, wholeheartedly giving in to Ohno’s ministrations with his fingers curling around Ohno’s wrists clasped to his front.

“I’m trying not to think about it much,” he says, acutely aware of Ohno’s lips working its way from his neck to the underside of his ear. “Please stop reminding me.” he adds with a moan as Ohno sucks a mark to that sensitive spot just behind Nino’s right ear. The action makes something in Nino’s stomach tight, a sensation pulling around his middle as the Sentinel Leader makes a good show of pushing his erection in between Nino’s butt cheeks.

“You want me to distract you?” Ohno asks - it’s an obvious ruse, something Nino’s still not used to even now, and the accompanying sensation still rocks Nino, hard - and Nino laughs in lieu of doing something even more embarrassing.

He is shaking in laughter hearing Ohno doing the same, and somehow, he feels way better than he did minutes ago. He squeezes Ohno’s hands that are still resting on his front, before patting them softly as if asking Ohno quietly for permission.

Ohno doesn’t let him, though. Instead, his arms tighten visibly around Nino’s middle as his lips skim Nino’s neck and shoulder, before biting the same spot with a little too much force than what’s probably necessary that has Nino keening in answer.

“Oh, please go ahead,” Nino moans despite himself, before tilting his head and catching Ohno’s mouth for a kiss. The angle is off but they manage to kiss anyway. He pulls back and licks the remnants of heat around his lips, watching Ohno’s eyes tracking the action reverently.

“As if I can stop you, right? And even if I want to, I won’t.” he adds, trembling a little when Ohno dives back in and kisses him again.

++

Nino wonders how he must look right now, arms braced against the glass wall and keening everytime Ohno’s tongue returns for a deeper lick. It’s warm, warmer even with the water hitting Nino’s back, but it seems like even the water cascading along Nino’s skin isn’t enough to deter Ohno. He goes back for more, fingers prodding Nino’s butt cheeks apart and tongue-fucking Nino with purpose.

“Ahh, god - Oh-chan,  _ please _ ,” Nino whines, trembling all over when Ohno’s fingers find his balls and start mounding them. The spike of renewed arousal has Nino whining against the crook of his own elbow, his lower half shaking as Ohno’s tongue delves deeper and deeper still.

“ _ Fuck, fuck, _ please, oh god.”

Ohno stays where he is, but only for a moment longer, before he is pulling away. The loss of warmth has Nino whining in turn, but everything sort of halted into a complete stop when Ohno’s hands find purchase on his hips, firm and guiding as Ohno turns him around with so little effort.

“Satoshi -”

“Shhh,” Ohno shushes him softly just as his mouth settles on the top of Nino’s left knee for an open-mouthed kiss. Nino automatically drops his gaze on Ohno’s head, on the Sentinel Leader’s hair plastered flat on his forehead, jaw hanging open as he watches the way Ohno’s lips work its way from Nino’s leg to his thighs.

“It’s okay,” Ohno keeps murmuring, his voice warm and settling Nino’s blood on fire. “It’s okay, Nino. I got you.” Ohno adds, before he leans up and closes his mouth over the head of Nino’s cock and swallows.

++

Ohno hollows his cheeks and hums around his mouthful, sucking powerfully that Nino has no choice but to voice out his pleasure. Nino moans, long and deep and low, and Ohno feels powerful somehow, working his fingers into Nino, along with the two that are already there. He likes this part as much as he likes everything else, the way Nino’s inner muscle stretches around Ohno’s fingers as he shoves them in and out of Nino’s body and preparation for what’s to come.

“Ohhh, God, please -  _ fuck _ !” Nino curses, and Ohno smirks around the cock in his mouth, before he slowly pulls away. The sound Nino’s cock made when it popped out of Ohno’s mouth is filthy as it is delicious, and Ohno reminds himself to make more of that sound in the future and already looking forward to it.

“Are you sure?” he asks, licking around his mouth and tasting Nino’s arousal in his tongue. His own dick lays hard in between his thighs, throbbing with the desire to be shoved deep in Nino’s body, but he’s nothing but a patient man, so he’s going to wait until he’s certain Nino is as ready as Ohno wants him to be.

“Yes, yes, please, Oh-chan, please,” Nino whines, fingers finding Ohno’s ears and holding on, tugging on them lightly. Ohno hums and slowly withdraws his fingers, one by one, as he licks the base of Nino’s dick, teasing the nerves around and across it with the tips of his tongue. “Please, I want you.”

Ohno pulls away and holds Nino’s gaze, loving the soft look on Nino’s face when Ohno licks his lips and nods his head in agreement.

“Come here.” Nino says, and Ohno complies without even a second thought.

++

He wonders how he got so lucky, this time around, finding Nino and falling in love with him, despite Kazuko’s hold on him for centuries. It’s difficult to breathe sometimes when Nino is close and they’re not even touching, and Ohno learns to appreciate the little things, especially the ones that involve Nino.

Nino’s immortality aside, Ohno’s certain there would still be a lot they’d have to face in the future, but Ohno is ready to take on them, so long as he is with Nino.

“God,  _ I love you _ ,” he groans into the side of Nino’s mouth, his temple pressed against Nino’s own as he pushes the first few centimeters in slowly. Nino whimpers, mouth seeking him for a kiss as he works his right hand at the small of Nino’s back, while his left he uses to lift Nino’s leg so he could fold it around his hips.

“I love you so  _ much _ , Kazu.” he follows just as he pushes the last inch with a groan, Nino doing the same as they breathe in tandem. They are panting raggedly into each other's mouth when Ohno feels the tell-tale feel of Nino’s inner muscle contracting around his dick, Nino’s fingernails clawing around his back to urge him on.

“I love you, I love you, Oh-chan, oh please, please -” Nino whimpers, and the previous tightness becomes twice as tight and Ohno nearly loses it. He pumps his hips hard enough to rattle the glass wall behind Nino, holding Nino to him as he fucks into Nino time and time again. Ohno presses closer, lips barely gracing Nino’s own, eyes locked on Nino’s face as he thrusts and thrusts and thrusts.

Nino’s vampire strength allows him the luxury to take all of Ohno’s powerful thrusts without reservation, even meeting Ohno’s movements halfway.

“ _ Yes, yes, yes!” _ Nino yells, and Ohno knows he’s not going to last. He pulls Nino to him and he begins fucking Nino earnestly, only vaguely worried about them breaking the glass wall with the force of his thrusts. But then Nino is clawing at his back and is lifting his other leg to join the one that is already around Ohno’s hips, hands bracketing around Ohno’s shoulders for dear life, and Ohno lets go of any reservation by holding Nino under his hips, backs him against the glass wall and works his hips fast, faster.

“Fuck, I’m  _ coming  _ \- Oh-chan!” Nino yells, and Ohno shuts his eyes close and follows the tail of Nino’s orgasm with a shout of his own, shuddering as he spills his pleasure inside Nino’s body, as Nino spurts his own in between theirs.

++

They are still trying to catch their breaths, and he is still buried inside the depths of Nino’s body when Nino twitches from his grasp only so he could look Ohno in the eyes.

“Satoshi, I need you to promise me something.” Nino says, his voice marred with emotion Ohno couldn’t stand to hear.

“Anything.” he returns, pulling Nino down for a chaste kiss. The look on Nino’s face softens, and Ohno knows he’s mostly the reason for it, and is equally glad for it, if anything.

Nino nods. “Promise me you’re going to help me find my mother’s killers,” Nino says, with conviction that Ohno’s heart aches for him yet again. “Please, I - I have to find them…I need to know why they have to kill her but not me. Why did they feel the need to keep me alive when they could have killed me then, too.”

Ohno shakes his head, unable to form words, terrified with it despite the fact that Nino is here, with him. He couldn’t even bring himself to imagine losing Nino now, couldn’t bear the thought of a world without Nino in it because he knows there’s no way he’s going to be able to live without Nino in his life now.

He doesn’t say it, though, because he knows there’s no use. He wouldn’t, couldn’t say that he’s still grateful for those animals for leaving Nino alive, because doing so brought Nino to him in the end. But that doesn’t mean he can’t kill those bloodsuckers himself, to avenge Nino’s mother, because he will.

He promised he would.

“Yes, I promise.” he says, meaning it, because he owes Nino this, doesn’t he? He owes Nino a lot of things, and he swears he’s going to make do of those promises, no matter what.

“Thank you.” Nino returns, with a soft smile and Ohno kisses him, just because he knows he can.

Then he pushes in, pulls out, and begins the pleasurable torture over again, pulling them away from the bathroom’s glass wall and out the door, his cock still buried inside Nino’s ass as he walks the short way from the bathroom to the bed and fucking Nino there.

++

They’ve barely sat there, Jun mentally chastising his stomach for growling angrily in hunger when Sakurai’s phone rings noisily in his pocket.

Obviously left with no other choice, the vampire fishes around for it and answers it.

“Yes, this is Sakurai speaking - what?!” Sakurai hisses, stands, and frowns at the space between Jun and the wall behind him.

“No, please, that’s not - no, that can’t be.” Sakurai murmurs, and Jun finds himself migrating next to the vampire before he could stop himself.

“What’s wrong, bloodsucker?” he asks, frowning. He doesn’t like the look on the vampire’s face, much more the way he ends up almost stumbling on the floor if Jun isn’t there to catch him.

“Hey! Fuck, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Sakurai lifts his head and Jun has to strain hard to hear what the vampire is saying.

“He’s… _ d-dead, _ ” Sakurai whispers, voice shaking along with the rest of him. “A-Aiba-chan’s dead.”


End file.
